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'I.  1  .  It- ,';;•  "-as  spokrtn^feforem^  terrible  being,  whose    ^ 

(Mcel}  I  II nil  K  pyes  were  get  upon  hira,'^roppe'l  on  one  knee,  placed  anv 
arrow  oii  .  i  r  low-strin:;',  and  raiseil  the  M'eapon  for  an  aim." — See  page  44. 

,  Aiy    WESLT:Y    BRADStlAW, 

jiUkorof  "PauiiMof  'J%:  Potomac," '^  VjIu,-U»:'''3  Rtllof  Uiior,"  "Ge.tcral  Corcoran'?  Capliviii/," 

•'  Gtntral  M;ClcUa7i^t  Dream,"  ^ 


™i._^ 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 
OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 
PRESENTED  BY 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


•    •    < 


*^  mMtM  cumgfcj 


PHILADELPHIA  r 
PUBLISHED  BY  ALLEXANDEK  &  CO. 

123    SOITTH    TUISD    SXSEBT. 


i 


THE 


PICKET    SLAYER. 


THE  MOST  THKILLING  STORY  OF  THE  WAK, 


.Ajid  by  far  tlie  best  that  lias  yet  emanated  frozn.  tlie  pen  of  tlie 

Gi-reat  National  .A.utIior, 


WESLEY  BRADSHAW 


Author  of  "Pauline  of  the  Potomac,"  "General  McOlellan's  Dream," 

"  General  Corcoran's  Captivity,"  "Washington's  Vision," 

"  The  Volunteer's  Roll  of  Honor,"  "  The 

Red  Stone  Pipe,"  &c.  &c. 


BEAUTIFULLY  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  ORIGINAL  AND  ELEGAIH"  ENGRAVINGS,  ASS 
ENRICHED  WITH  A  MAGNIFICENTLY  COLORED  COVER, 


•  » 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
PUBLISHED  BY  ALEXANDER   &   CO. 

123  South  Thied  Steeet. 


Entered  acoording  to  Act  of  Congress',  in  the  year  1863,  by  ALEXANDER  &  00., 
in  the  Clerk's  OflSce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  th« 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


MAUD  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 


OB, 


GEN.  GRANT'S  SPY. 


THE  HOST  EXCITING  NARRATIVE  NOW  OUT, 

BKINO    THM    ACCOUNT    07    THB  « 

THRILLING  ADVENTURES 

OP 

Miss  Pauline  D'Estraye 

While  serving  as  Gen.  Grant's  Spy,  during  the 

Vicksburg  Campaign.     The  only  and  well-beloved  child 

of  a  wealthy  French  Exile,  Pauline  was  devoted  by  her  father 

on  his  death-bed  to  the  Glorious  Cause  of  the  Union.     And  how  faitb- 

fdlly  the  heroic  girl  kept  the  vow  she  murmured  to  her  expiring  parent,  as 

his  fast-failing  arms  wrapped  her  in  the  American  Flag,  was  attested  by 

her  splendid  deeds  during  Gen.  McClellan's  Campaign.     Not 

content  with  that,  however,  Pauline  determined  to  still 

further  serve  the  cause  of  her  adopted  country; 

this   time  under  the  direction  of  General 

Gbant,  The  Hero  of  Vicksburg  I 


We  have  gotten  this  ^ook  up  in  the  most  elegant  manner,  with 

SPLENDID  AND  ORIGINAL  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

And  a  Richly-Colored  Cover. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  which  is  the  scene  where 

Maud  Passes  the  BELOHJNG  BATTERIES  of  Vicksburg! 

^  IN  A  PECULIAE  BOAT  OF  HEB  OWN  DESIGN. 

firmy  booksellers,  Sutlers  and  (Peddlers  should  furnish  themselves 
with  this  great  book  at  onoe. 

Single  copies,  or  several  oopies,  mailed  promptly  to  any  ad-dress, 
post  paid,  on  receipt  of  2§  cents  per  copy. 

ALEXANDER  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

123  Soath  Tbird  Street,  PHILADELPHIA, 


44 


THE  PICKET   SLAYER." 


"t**- 


Late  on  the  night  of  Washington's  birth-day,  1862,  President  Lin- 
eoln  and  General  McClellan  were  engaged  in  earnest  consultation  re- 
garding some  military  matters  of  the  highest  importance.  In  the 
midst  of  their  conversation,  a  stranger  was  announced  who,  though 
the  hour  was  so  unseasonable  for  visitors,  expressed  the  strongest 
wish  to  see  either  Mr.  Lincoln  or  General  McClellan.  To  a  reply 
that  an  audience  would  be  impossible,  the  visitor  sent  up  a  letter,  to 
which  was  appended  the  single  but  magic  word  "  Palmerston." 

"It  is  rather  strange,  however,  Mr.  Lincoln,"  remarked  General 
McClellan,  after  the  President  had  read  the  letter  to  him,  "  that  this 
communication  should  come  directly  from  Palmerston,  when  the 
proper  channel  should  be  Lord  Lyons,  he  being  the  British  Minister." 

"  Well,"  said  the  President,  "the  communication  is  certainly  in  the 
handwriting  of  Palmerston  himself,  and  doubtless  there  are  good  rea- 
sons for  his  ifregular  course  in  the  matter.  Let  us  see  the  bearer  at 
any  rate." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  answered  the  General ;  "  we  can  hear  what 
he  has  to  say  about  this  diabolical  creature." 

A  few  moments  after  this,  the  unknown  visitor  was  ushered  into 
the  presence  of  the  President  and  his  celebrated  chieftain. 

As  the  newcomer  was  saluted 'and  motioned  to  a  chair  by  the  Pres- 
ident, both  the  latter  and  General  McClellan  closely  scrutinized  his 
features  and  appearance.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  so  in  that  mild,  almost  in- 
nocent manner  so  characteristic  of  him,  and  McClellan  with  tha;t 
keen,  eagle  glance  so  peculiarly  his  own. 

(21) 


602682 


22  A   STARTLING   NARRATIVE, 

"  Mr.  "Wetherill,"  said  tlie  President,  ut  last  opening  conversation 
on  the  subject-matter  of  the  letter,  "  General  McClellan  and  myself 
were  engaged  with  a  most  important  matter  when  you  were  an- 
nounced, and  I  was  compelled  to  send  down  a  refusal  to  see  you ;  but 
after  reading  this  letter,  I  felt  assured  that  an  interview  should  be  had." 

"Well,  your  Excellency  and  General,"  said  Mr.  Wetherill,  bowing 
first  to  the  President  and  then  to  McClellar,,  "  I  regret  that  I  should 
have  interrupted  you ;  but  I  considered  it  highly  necessary  to  see  you 
at  the  earliest  moment  after  my  arrival  from  England.'' 

"  In  what  steamer  did  you  come,  Mr.  Wetherill  ?"  asked  McClel- 
lan. 

"In  the  Bohemian,  General,  which  reached  Portland  two  days 
since.  I  immediately  started  for  Washington,  and  arrived  here  an 
hour  ago." 

"I  am  almost  startled,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  resumed  the  President,  "at 
the  perusal  of  this  letter  of  Lord  Palmerston's.  Is  there  no  mistake, 
no  misapprehension  in  the  matter  ?" 

"  None  whatever,  your  Excellency,"  answered  the  visitor ;  "  in  fact 
no  language,  however  strong,  can  convey,  to  the  mind  a  really  correct 
conception  of  this  startling,  terrible  being !" 

"I  am  exceedingly  curious,  Mr.  Wetherill,  to  hear  a  full  detail  in 
relation  to  the  awful  anomaly  of  Nature  referred  to  in  Lord  Palmer- 
ston's communication." 

"  That,  or  as  nearly  as  possible,  I  will  give  your  Excellency.  In 
the  year  1844,  I  became  established  as  a  practicing  physician  in  the 
City  of  London.  The  very  first  case  I  received  was  a  most  peculiar 
orfe.  I  had  retired  one  night,  and  had  just  fallen  into  a  sort  of  wak- 
ful  slumber,  when  I  was  aroused  suddenly  by  a  ring  at  the  night  bell. 
The  servant  who  went  to  open  the  door,  quickly  brought  me  word 
that  a  young  and  noble  looking  gentleman  wished  to  see  me 
instantly.  I  quickly  slipped  on  my  clothes  and  hurried  down  to  the 
office,  where  I  found  a  stranger  pacing  the   room  with  uneasy  steps. 

"His  features,  excepting  a  piercing  black  eye,  and  a  marble-pale 
forehead,  I  was  unable  to  see,  as  they-  were  concealed  by  the  care- 
fully arranged  folds  of  a  heavy  Spanish  mantle. 

"  *  Doctor  Wetherill,'  he  commenced,  in  a  voice  altered  from  its 
usual  tone,  and  yet  tremulous  from  excitement,  '  I  want  you  to  come 
with  me  instantly.  Here  is  gold,  if  you  wish  your  fee  now,'  extend- 
ing a  purse  from  beneath  his  mantle  as  he  spoke — '  and  my  own 
carriage,  with  fleet  horses,  is  at  the  door !  Come,  it  is  a  matter  erf 
life  and  death  !  all  depends  on  you !     Come  instantly ! ' 

"Naturally  fond  of  adventure  and  mystery,  I  did  not  hesitate 


A   STARTLING   NARRATIVE.  23 

longer  than  to  get  my  hat  and  surtout — for  tlie  weather  was  stormy^ — 
and,  within  a  minute  and  a  half,  I  was  seated  with  my  strange  patron 
in  a  richly  cushioned  coach,  that  went  flying  along  behind  a  pair  of 
splendid  steeds, 

"I  had  fully  expected  to  be  conveyed  to  some  aristocratic  mansion, 
in  keeping  with  the  vehicle  in  which  I  rode.  What  was  my  surprise, 
however,  to  find  the  carriage,  after  a  long  drive,  drawn  up  before  a 
neat  little  cottage,  some  distance  out  upon  the  Northern  Eoad. 

"  *  This  is  the  place  !'  said  my  companion,  in  tones  lower  and  firmer 
than  he  had  used  before. 

"The  following  instant,  without  waiting  for  the  coachman,  he 
himself  had  sprung  from  his  seat  to  the  ground,  and  stood,  with  the 
coach  door  in  his  hand,  waiting  for  me.  I  got  out  nimbly,  and  fol- 
lowed my  mysterious  guide  into  the  cottage,  and  up  to  a  chamber  on 
the  second  floor.  I  had,  from  the  first,  half  guessed  the  object  for  which 
my  services  had  been  sought,  and  I  was  not,  therefore,  surprised  at 
the  sight  that  my  glance  fell  on  when  I  entered  the  chamber  I 
speak  of. 

*'  On  an  elegantly  furnished  couch  lay  one  of  the  most  lovely  beings 
I  ever  beheld.  She  was  now  insensible,  yet  it  was  evident  that  she 
had  but  recently  been  strongly  convulsed.  One  arm,  white  as  alabas- 
ter, and  peerless  in  its  moulding,  rested,  where  it  had  been  tossed, 
upon  a  bunch  of  long,  flaxen,  dishevelled  curls,  whilst  the  other  was 
pressed  upon  a  heart  that  seemed  to  have  ceased  its  throbbings.  The 
rigid  features  were  wonderfully  regular,  but  hueless  as  the  snow." 

At  this  point  the  narrator  was  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  a 
staff  officer,  who,  saluting  his  superiors,  handed  to  General  McClellan 
several  dispatches,  which,  as  the  General  read,  he  handed  to  the 
President,  with  the  remark : 

"  Those  relieve  us  of  our  anxiety." 

Then  turning  to  Mr.  "Wetherill,  he  continued. 

"  I  am  sorry,  sir,  you  were  interrupted,  but  the  interruption  gives 
us  more  time  to  listen  to  your  narrative,  which  has  already  so  deeply 
interested  me  that  I  beg  of  you  to  relate  the  fullest  details  thereof." 

Mr.  Lincoln,  as  the  staff  officer  left  the  apartment,  made  a  like 
remark,  and  Mr.  Wetherill  resumed  : 

"  It  needed  not  any  words  from  my  unknown  guide  to  tell  me 
what  was  wanted.  I  saw  all  in  an  instant.  A  few  hurried  questions 
and  replies  of  the  old  woman  who  was  by  the  bedside,  placed  me  in 
possession  of  all  the  information  I  needed,  and  I  proceeded  at  once 
to  my  duty. 


24  A    STABTUNG    NARRATIVE. 

"  '•■  A  short  time  after  midnight,  the  soula  of  mother  and  child  passed 
each  other  through  the  portal  of  eternity. 

"  '  Dead !  dead  I  did  you  say  ?  "  gasped  the  young  man  by  whom  I 
had  been  brouglit  to  the  cottage,  dropping  the  mantle  from  about  his 
face,  and  seizing  my  arm  with  both  hands,  as  the  fact  was  announced 
to  him.  '  Oh,  doctor,'  he  continued,  in  t\ie  most  anguished  tones,  '  I 
brought  you  here  to  save  her  1' 

" '  I  have  used  my  utmost  skill,  sir,'  replied  I,  in  a  soothing  man- 
ner, 'but  it  was,  alas,  too  late.' 

"  '  Too  late !  too  late ! '  he  repeated  after  me,  vacantly.  Then 
relinquishing  his  grasp  upon  my  arm,  he  turned  to  the  bedside,  and, 
bending  over  the  lovely  corpse,  he  took  the  two  dead  arms,  and, 
twining  them  about  his  neck,  fondly  kissed  the  pale  lips  of  the 
deceased. 

"  Rising  to  his  feet,  he  turned  again  to  me,  and  said,  in  a  calm 
voice : 

" '  Doctor,  my  grief  has  overthrown  my  prudence,  and  caused  me 
to  discover  myself  to  you.     Can  I  trust  to  your  life-long  secrecy  ?  ' 

"  'On  my  honor  you  can,'  I  quickly  rejoined,  taking  his  extended 
hand  in  mine,  and  pressing  it  warmly.  I  had  recognized  him  as  the 
eldest  son  of  one  of  England's  most  celebrated  Peers. 

"  He  and  I  parted  for  the  night,  after  he  had  set  me  down  at  my 
own  door,  and  promised  to  call  and  see  me  on  the  succeeding  day. 
Ho  kept  his  promise,  and  from  him  I  obtained  a  history  of  his  life 
for  the  past  year  or  so.  It  was  the  old  tale.  He  had  seen  this  beau- 
tiful but  poor  girl,  and  fallen  in  love  with  her.  She  was  beneath  his 
station  in  life,  and,  of  course,  marriage  was  out  of  the  question.  Hia 
ardent  love  was  returned,  and,  in  an  unguarded  hour,  Mary  fell  from 
woman's  highest  estate.     More  need  not  be  said. 

'^The  infant,  a  lovely  little  girl,  became  the  object  of  the  father's 
whole  affection,  and  from  the  hour  of  her  birth  up  to  her  tenth  year 
she  was  scarcely  away  from  him  more  than  a  week  at  a  time. 
Strange  enough,  however,  the  more  strenuously  her  parent  sought 
to  gain  her  affections,  the  more  repulsive  became  her  disposition  and 
temperament.  At  this  time  the  father  died  suddenly  and  somewhat 
mysteriously,  and  young  Mary  was  left  an  entire  orphan.  On  his 
deaih-bed  he  injudiciously,  as  I  deemed,  told  the  full  story  of  her 
mother's  wrong  to  Mary,  taking,  of  course,  the  whole  blame  of  the 
iiuliajjpy  aflair  upon  iiimself,  and  imploring  his  daughter  to  have  the 
example  of  her  mother's  fate  constantly  before  her  eyes.  The  reci- 
tal took  a  deep  effect  upon  the  child's  mind,  and  for  several  weeks 
after  her  parent's  death  she  was  retiring,  and  even  morose. 


\ 


A   STARTLING   XAKRATIVE.  25 

"  Having  promised  the  father  to  take  her  to  my  home  and  see  to 
her  raising,  I  had  a  good  opportunity  to  study  her  temperament  and 
natural  traits  of  character ;  and  every  succeeding  day  of  her  existence 
I  became  more  and  more  convinced  that  she  was  a  fearful  anomaly, 
one  of  those  pent-up  tempests  of  soulless  mind — if  the  expression  is 
applicable — that,  when  they  burst  upon  mankind,  are  most  terrible  in 
their  effects.  Fully  comprehending  the  ehame  of  her  birth,  she 
discontinued  the  use  of  her  father's  name  after  his  death,  and  called 
herself  Mary  Murdock. 

"  Her  mind  was  extremely  powerful  and  brilliant,  and  I  therefore 
allowed  her  the  use  of  my  library,  hoping  for  beneficial  results.  In 
my  earlier^years,  I  had  been  an  enthusiastic  investigator  of  those 
occult  sciences  and  abstruse  philosophies  that  were  once  carried  to 
such  perfection  in  Oriental  countries,  and  I  had  spent  large  sums  ia 
the  purchase  of  rare  and  valuable  books  that  treated  of  such  subjects. 
A  collection  of  several  hundred  strange  old  volumes  was  one  result 
of  this  enthusiasm ;  and  these  tomes,  covered  with  dust,  occupied  a 
separate  portion  of  my  library.  In  the  course  of  her  examination, 
Mary  chanced  upon  this  collection. 

"As  the  wearied  traveler  in  the  desert  plunges  into  the  unexpected 
water  pool,  and  drinks  even  to  excess,  so  Mary  plunged  into  the 
reservoir  of  subtle  lore  that  I  unconsciously  had  prepared  for  her, 
years  previous.  Her  mental  nature,  too,  seemed  specially  adapted 
for  the  reception  of  just  such  knowledge  as  was  here  stored  within 
her  reach.  The  result  was  astounding.  Night  and  day,  early  and 
late,  she  was  in  the  library,  devouring  th^  contents  of  musty,  worm- 
eaten  old  books  and  manuscripts,  that  even  I,  with  all  my  ardor  for 
investigation,  had  failed  to  make  intelligible.  For  awhile,  my 
wonder  was  awakened,  and  then  my  fears  excited  for  the  mind  of  the 
strange  young  creature,  whose  father  I  had  solemnly  promised,  to 
guide  her  aright  to  maturity. 

"Her  manners  and  habits,  and  even  her  personal  appearance, 
became  quickly,  strangely  altered.  Hitherto  her  cheeks  had  been 
rosy,  and  her  deep  blue  eyes  dreamy  and  soft  in  expression ;  but  now 
the  roseate  hue  of  her  cheeks  was  replaced  by  a  singular  pallor, 
while  her  eyes  burned  with  a  brilliant,  flashing  light,  that  at  times 
caused  her  to  look  weird,  or,  more  truthfully,  demoniac.  During 
her  previous  life,  she  had  always  been  frightened  at  the  approach,  ' 
and  during  the  continuance,  of  a  storm  ;  but  now  her  utmost  appa- 
rent delight  was  to  wander  out  into  the  open  air,  and  expose  herself 
to  evci-y  tempest.  The  more  fiercely  the  elements  raged,  the  more 
perfectly  did  they  seem  to    harmonize    with  her  wild  nature.     On 


26  THE   BEAUTIFUL   DEMON, 

these  and  also  other  occasions,  she  would  fling  her  arms  abroad,  and 
apostrophise  some  unseen  beings  in  the  language  of  the  Oriental 
Magi. 

"  I  scarcely  knew  what  measures  to  take.  I  confined  her  in  her 
room,  and  in  two  days  she  raved  like  a  maniac.  I  threatened  her 
with  my  displeasure,  and  she  laughed  me  to  scorn.  I  told  her  that  I 
would  burn  every  volume  in  the  library.  At  this  she  became  for 
awhile  absolutely  insane.  Last  of  all,  I  tried  the  effect  of  reasoning 
kindly  with  her.  I  couched  my  appeals  to  her  in  terms  of  endear- 
ment, and  succeeded  thereby  in  calming  her. 

"  After  quietly  listening  to  me  one  day,  she  replied  to  the  effect 
that  she.  was  a  Qhild  of  sin,  doomed  from  the  moment  of  her  birth  to 
perdition,  and  destined,  while  she  remained  on  earth,  to  be  the  enemy 
of  everything  good. 

"  '  Thanks  to  your  books,  Doctor,'  she  continued,  with  the  assured 
manner  of  a  person  of  forty  years,  '  I  have  been  enabled  to  master 
those  sciences  that  teach  me  how  to  communicate  with. my  kindred 
spirits  in  the  lower  world.  It  was  not  your  fault !  They  guided  me 
from  birth  ;  I  am  theirs  forever !  I  shall  perform  my  part  oa  earth, 
and,  when  that  is  done,  I  shall  be  loosed  from  the  body,  and  go  to 
where  I  belong.  By  your  hand.  Doctor,  they  tell  me  I,  that  is,  my 
body,  shall  dieP 

"  I  shuddered ;  my  flesh,  crept  with  horror,  as  the  words  of  the 
child  monster  fell  upon  my  ears.  Could  it  be  that  out  from  those 
beautiful  eyes  a  demon  from  the  bottomless  pit  was  staring  at  me  ? 
that  the  spirit  which  animated  the  fragile  form  before  me  was  one  of 
darkness  ?     The  thought  made  my  very  soul  sick, 

"  'I  must  leave  you,  Doctor!'  exclaimed  Mary,  at  this  moment, 
'  I  must  leave  you ;  they  are  calling  me !' 

"  With  an  indescribable  glance,  the  youthful  speaker  started  from 
the  chair  on  which  she  had  been  sitting,  and  bounded  away  to  the 
library. 

"  I  did  not  go  after  her,  but  remained  where  I  was,  long  and  deeply 
pondering  the  course  I  ought  to  pursue  in  regard  to  my  charge.  The 
impression  quickly  graved  itself  upon  my  mind  that  I  must  devote 
my  life,  for  years  to  come,  to  Mary  alone,  and  that  impression  I  re- 
solved to  carry  out. 

"  My  first  step  in  this  direction  was  a  re-application  to  the  study 
of  those  occult  arts  and  sciences  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  and 
an  entire  abandonment  of  my  practice.  Doubtless,  gentlemen,  this 
may  strike  you  as  rather  superstitious ;  but  I  myself  have  discov- 
ered some  startling  fagts,  facts,  I  repeat  the  word,  in  regard  to  the 


THE   PURSUER.  27 

connections  that  exist,  and  the  connections  that  may  exist,  between 
man  and  the  beings  of  tlie  other  workh  But  I  shall  not  weary  you 
with  useless  detail.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  from  the  time  I  commenced 
my  surveillance  upon  the  singular  being  I  have  been  speaking  of, 
I  have  had  one  unbroken  contest  with  her. 

"  Several  weeks  since,  I  was  stricken  down  with  a  short  but 
sudden  illness,  during  which  Mary  escaped,  and  went,  no  one  knew 
whither.  I  was  satisfied  that  I  should  presently  hear  of  her  wherever 
she  might  have  gone  to.  As  I  expected,  I  learned,  not  from  man, 
however,  that  my  charge  had  sailed  for  America  to  join  herself  to 
the  cause  of  the  rebellion  that  is  now  rending  your  land.  I  immedi- 
ately took  the  next  steamer  that  sailed,  and  am  here,  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  this  terrible  being.  Previous  to  setting  out  from 
England,  I  took  the  precaution  of  obtaining  from  my  friend,  Lord 
Palmerston,  an  autograph  letter  as  to  my  object  in  coming  hither. 
His  lordship  has  for  some  time  been  deeply  interested  in  this — what 
he  terms — '  diabolical  phenomenon  of  Nature,'  and  I  trust,  after 
reading  his  lordship's  letter,  that  you  will  allow  me,  your  Excellency^ 
a  free  communication  in  and  out  of  the  lines  of  the  Union  armies. 
I  could  pass  them  whenever  I  might  feel  so  disposed,  without  the 
slightest  trouble ;  but  I  shall  at  times  need  your  assistance,  and  also 
that  of  General  McClellan,  in  the  prosecution  of  my  search ;  and  I 
prefer  that  there  shall  be  no  concealment  about  my  actions." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  said  General  McClellan,  "  what  you  have 
said  has  induced,  in  my  mind  at  least,  an  idea  that  this  young  and 
beautiful  creature  is  the  victim  of  a  most  peculiar  madness,  or 
rather,  to  use  plain  language,  possessed  of  a  devil,  if  such  a  thing  is 
possible.     But  what  are  really  her  powers  for  harm  ?" 

"Her  powers  for  harm,  General,  are  almost  unlimited,  except 
when  under  the  direct  influence  of  myself,  or  at  least  some  one  who 
has  mastered  those  occult  sciences  of  which  I  have  before  spoken. . 
For  instance,  the  barriers  of  your  best  and  most  rigidly  kept  lines, 
General,  she  could  penetrate  at  any  time  she  chose,  morning,  noon, 
or  night,  without  the  slightest  peril  of  being  captured.  She  could 
introduce  herself  into  this  apartment  though  you  were  to  guard  it 
with  a  full  regiment,  and  were  there  information  here  valuable  to 
the  enemy,  and  which  she  wished  to  obtain,  you  might  seal  it  with 
all  the  care  possible,  yet  she  would  get  it." 

"  I  hope  most  sincerely,  then,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  said  the  President, 
"  that  you  may  succeed  at  the  earliest  moment  in  capturing  this 
terrible  creature.     But,  to  speak  the   truth,  sir,  and  I  hope  I  shall 


28  A   VISIT   PROMISED. 

not  offend  you  thereby,  1  have  no  such  fears  as  you   appear  to  have, 
concerning  this  wild,  eccentric  girl." 

"  I  think  I  know  what  your  Excellency  means  by  that  expression," 
replied  Mr.  Wetherill,  in  a  quiet  manner;  "you  mean  that  any  belief 
in  the  exercise  of  such  powers  as  I  have  described,  is  altogether 
erroneous,  and;  perhaps,  to  be  plainer,    that  it  is  silly." 

"I  must  own  up  to,  it  Mr.  Wetherill,"  replied  the  President,  in 
his  blunt,  though  not  offensive  manner,  "that  I  cannot  bring  myself 
to  credit  any  such  doctrine  as  communication,  or  rather  alliances  and 
partnerships  between  people  of  this  world  and  any  other.  It  strikes 
me  very  forcibly  that  that  sort  of  business  saw  its  best  days  in  the 
dark  ages." 

"  Well,  your  Excellency,"  said  Mr.  Wetherill,  in  the  same  quiet 
tone  as  before,  "  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  argue  the  matter  with 
you,  but  I  will,  ere  morning,  bring  to  your  attention  something  that 
will  perhaps  startle  even  you.  I  will  see  both  yourself  and  General 
McClcllan  again  before  daybreak.  You  may  surround  yourselves 
with  as  many  guards  as  you  choose,  and  give  them  express  orders 
against  admitting  me.  Yet  I  will  pass  them,  and  hold  an  interview 
with  you  both.  Understand  me  properly,  gentlemen,"  continued  the 
speaker,  rising  to  take  his  departure,  "  I  do  not  intend  to  do  this  as 
the  juggling  magician  performs  his  tricks  of  magic  before  an  audi- 
ence, but  by  means  of  a  science,  that,  however  startling  and  profound, 
is  still  within  the  reach  of  any  mind  of  ordinary  intelligence,  that 
will  diligently  prosecute  the  researches  necessary  to  its  attainment 
I  will  leave  Lord  Palmerston's  letter  with  you  until  to-morrow,  at 
two  o'clock,  your  Excellency,  at  which  time  I  beg  you  will  grant  me 
another  interview." 

"I  will  do  so  with  pleasure,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  answered  the  Presi- 
dent, urbanely  ;  "  and,"  continued  he,  with  one  of  his  peculiar  smiles, 
"  I  shall  be  equally  pleased  to  see  you  in  that  startling  visit  that  you 
propose  to  favor  me  with  during  the  night.  And  I  have  no  doubt 
General  McClellan  will,  also." 

One  or  two  remarks  of  a  general  character  passed  among  the  three, 
and  then  Mr.  Wetherill  took  his  departure. 

"  What  opinion  do  you  form  of  that  man,  Mr.  Lincoln  ?"  asked 
General  McClellan,  when  the  strange  visitor  had  gone. 

"  Well,  I  hardly  know.  General,"  answered  the  President,  "but  it 
does  rather  strike  me  that  he's  just  about  as  queer  as  this  girl  herself, 
that  he  is  in  such  a  quandary  about.  To  say  the  truth,  I  think  he's 
rather  on  the  luney  order.     What  do  you  think  ?" 

"  Had  he  lacked  the  letter  from  Lord  Palmerston,"  rejoined  McClel- 


SURMISES.  '  29 

Ian,  "  and  come  merely  with  his  own  apparently  wild  assertions,  I 
should  not  have  given  him  much  consideration.  But  I  hardly  think 
that,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  and  remembering,  also,  the 
delicate  relations  at  the  present  time  between  this  country  and  Eng- 
land, a  man  of  Palmerston's  sound  sense  would  meddle  in  a  silly 
affair.  And  you  notice  how  strong  his  language  is  in  regard  to  this 
singular  and  dreadful  being.  Besides,  when  I  was  a  boy,  I  myself 
remember  an  old  man  in  Philadelphia,  who  was  said  to  possess 
powers  exactly  similar  to  those  described  by  Wetherill.  There 
happened,  under  my  own  observation,  two  facts  in  connection  with 
this  old  man,  that  were  most  decidedly  startling  and  unaccountable." 

"  But  then,"  remarked  the  President,  "  this  letter  of  Palmerston's, 
though  apparently  genuine,  may,  after  all,  be  only  a  clever  forgery." 

"  I  hardly  think  the  seal  could  be,"  suggested  McClellan. 

"  That  is  true,"  quickly  answered  the  President ;  "  that  is  true. 
Well,  we  shall  learn  more  of  the  matter  to-morrow." 

As  there  was  now  nothing  to  detain  Mr.  Lincoln  or  General 
McClellan,  each  bade  the  other  good  night  and  parted. 


-•-•-^ 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    TRAITOR  AND  HIS   DEMON   FRIEND. 

Leaving  both  our  distinguished  characters,  however,  for  awhile, 
we  shall  make  a  retrogression,  that  our  succeeding  narrative  may  be 
the  more  clearly  understood. 

The  traitor  President  of  tlie  Southern  Confederacy  sat  alone  in  his 
private  library,  harrassing  his  mind  for  expedients  to  excuse  the 
unpromising  condition  of  Rebel  affairs  to  tlic  people  about  whose 
necks  he  and  his  coadjutors  were  endeavoring  to  place  a  most 
tyrannical  yoke. 

"While  thus  engaged,  he  was  considerably  startled  by  the  appear- 
ance directly  before  him  of  a  singularly  beautiful  girl, 

"Pardon  me,  Miss,"  he  said,  in  amazement,  gazing  at  his  unbidden 
visitor,  "  but  I  thought  myself  alone.  "What  would  you  have  of 
me?" 

"Nothing!  "What  would  you  have  of  meT^  was  the  prompt 
reply,  spoken  in  tones  unlike  any  that  the  traitor's  ears  had  evor 
heard. 


30  JBFF.   DA  vis's   VISITOR,  \ 

Davis,  with  all  his  cold  determination  of  character,  became  con- 
fused. He  was  at  a  loss  for  words  to  answer  his  fair  interrogator. 
The  latter,. without  the  motion  of  a  muscle,  continued  to  gaze  directly 
into  the  face  of  the  arch-traitor  for  the  space  of  nearly  a  minute, 
when  she  broke  the  silence  thus : 

"  President  Davis,  your  cause  has  received  some  stunning  blows 
lately  !  To  awaken  the  ardor  of  your  people,  you  must  have 
victories ;  to  have  victories,  you  need  assistance  ;  to  give  you  that 
assistance,  I  am  here.     Speak !  what  would  you  have  me  do  ?" 

Davis  was  more  than  ever  mystified,  and  perplexing  thoughts 
erowded  themselves  confusedly  into  his  mind. 

"  Pray,  Miss,"  said  he  at  length,  freeing  himself  somewhat  of  his 
embarrassment,  "  may  I  enquire  who  you  are  ?" 

"  You  may.     I  am  called  Mary  Murdock." 

"  One  more  question.  Miss  Murdock,"  continued  Davis,  in  a  half 
polite,  half  stern  tone,  "  how  did  you  gain  admittance  to  this  apart- 
ment ?" 

"  By  a  power  which  recognizes  not  the  will  of  mortal  man." 

This  laconic  reply  was  accompanied  by  a  piercing  look  that  caused 
the  Rebel  President  to  shudder,  and  induced  him  to  the  belief  that 
bis  mysterious  visitant  was  either  a  spirit  or  a  lunatic. 

Scarcely  knowing  what  reply  he  was  making,  he  said : 

"  You  say  you  have  come  here  to  render,  through  me,  assistance 
to  the  holy  cause  for  which  the  Southern  people  are  so  nobly  bat- 
tling?" 

"My  mission  hither.  President  Davis,  is  to  render  your  cause 
assistance,  not  because  it  is  holy,  as  you  hypocritically  say,  but 
because  it  is  the  most  diabolical  that  could  be  conceived  of." 

Davis  leaped  to  his  feet,  his  eyes  flashing  fire,  and  his  lips  pale, 
and  quivering  with  rage.  The  next  instant,  however,  he  sank  back 
in  his  chair,  limp  and  helpless,  whilst  his  visitor  made  several  swift 
passes  before  his  eyes,  uttering  as  she  did  so,  some  cabalistic  words  or 
exclamations. 

Pausing  for  a  moment,  she  regarded  the  victim  of  her  spell  in 
silence.  Then  reversing  her  incantation,  she  caused  him  to  recover 
himself. 

"  You  know  me  now  as  a  potential  friend,  do  you  not  ?  "  asked 
she  of  her  companion,  bending  on  his  countenance  another  of  her 
terrible  glances. 

"  Yes !  yes  !"  murmured  Davis,  in  a  voice  which  resembled  that  of 
a  man  who  has  been  nearly  strangled. 

"  Then  direct  me  as  to  what  you  would  have  me  do,  and  I  will  do 


c 

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Sk 

on 


A   VALUABLE   AID.  39 

it ;  that  is,  provided  it  is  not  to  go  to  "Wasliington.  There  is  in  that 
city  a  counter-influence,  much  more  powerful  than  mine ;  one  which 
I  must  carefully  avoid." 

"  Ah,"  replied  Davis,  "  Washington  is  the  place,  above  all  others 
at  this  juncture,  in  which  I  want  spies.  There  are  hundreds  willing 
to  undertake  the  enterprise,  but  the  lines  of  McClellau's  army  are  so 
thoroughly  kept  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  through," 
^  "I  will  make  their  passr.ge  easy  for  theml"  said  the  strange 
being,  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  yet  more  as  though  she  were 
soliloquizing  than  addressing  Davis. 

"  There  are  two  men,"  resumed  the  latter,  "  who  intended  setting 
out  to-morrow  morning  to  make  the  attempt ;  and  if  I  can  only  get 
them  into  Washington  for  a  few  days,  and  back  safely,  they  will 
stand  me  in  better  stead  than  a  whole  army  corps." 

"  To-morrow  morning  do  they  start  ? "  inquired  Mary  Murdock, 
for  by  this  name  must  we  call  the  beautifftl  demon.  I 

"Yes." 

"  Then  I  will  accompany  them.  I  will  be  here  at  eight  o'clock ; 
I  suppose  they  will  be  ready  by  that  time  ?  " 

"  I  will  see  that  they  are,"  replied  Davis. 

"Then,  until  that  hour,  farewell.  We  shall  be  of  much  service 
to  each  other.  President  Davis,  and  also  to  the  cause  of  the  Confed- 
eracy !     Ha  !  ha  !  " 

The  following  moment  the  speaker  was  gone. 

Upon  finding  himself  alone  once  more,  the  Rebel  President  paced 
up  and  down  the  floor  of  the  apartment  with  i*low,  indecisive  steps. 

"Is  it  possible,"  muttered  he,  "that  such  a  being  can  exist?  the 
face  and  form  of  an  angel,  and  the  soul  of  a  demon.  But  what  matters 
it  ?  she  will  serve  me  well.  I  wish  her  powers  were  mine.  To 
what  station  would  I  not  reach  ?  I  would  conquer  the  whole  earth, 
and  reign  its  supreme  sovereign.  Oh  !  how  glorious  that  would  bo  I 
But  I  have  a  different  fate,  far  dilFereut!  Providence  has  assigned 
to  me,  as  one  of  its  creatures,  a  not  very  enviable  position,  and  I 
must  fill  it.  Yes  1  yes,  it  is  my  fate  !  So  be  it !  So  let  the  wheel 
of  Desiiny  roll  on  !  " 

The  next  morning,'punctual  to  her  appointment,  Mary  Murdock 
waited  upon  Jeff.  Davis,  wh^with  equal  punctuality,  had  his  two 
emissaries  ready  to  start  with  her. 

These  were  astonished  upon  seeing  who  their  guide  and  protoG- 
treas  was  to  be,  and  one  of  them,  taking  Davis  aside,  said  to  him  : 

"  There  is  some  mistake  about  this  matter,  is  there  not,  Uncle 
Jefif?  or  are  you  sending  this  lovely  young  girl  aa  a  blind?  " 
2 


40  THE   TWO   SPIES  AND  THEIR   COMPANTON". 

"  Neither  one  nor  the  other,"  replied  the  Rebel  President ;  "  th* 
being,  whom  you  call  a  lovely  young  girl,  is  possessed  of  far  more 
power  than  I  am.  She  will  take  you  as  safely  through  the  Federal 
line?,  as  though  there  were  no  lines." 

"That  is  exactly  the  girl  for  us  and  the  Confederacy,  then!" 
laughed  the  other.  "But  who  is  she?  I  am  wonderfully  struck 
with  her  beauty,  and,  if  I  thought  her  fortune  was  as  handsome  aa 
her  face,  I  would  make  good  use  of  my  time  between  here  and  the 
Yankee  army." 

"  You  talk  unwittingly ! "  said  Davis  ;  "  that  paragon  of  loveli- 
ness, so  sweetly  angelic  in  her  outward  appearance,  is  in  reality  one 
of  the  most  terrible  beings  of  which  you  could  conceive." 

"  Then  I  hardly  think  that  she  would  suit  me,  for  my  former  wife 
was  more  than  a  match  for  me.  However,  she  is  becoming  impa- 
tient. I  see  she  is  afraid,  I  suppose,  of  being  too  late  for  the  train. 
I  will  step  back  to  her."  * 

Mary  Murdock,  who  had  been  sitting  down,  had  risen  to  her  feet 
just  before  the  spy  made  the  conclusion  of  his  remarks  to  Davis,  and 
she  now  stood  leaning  upon  what  seemed  to  be  a  long  staff,  con- 
cealed in  a  muslin  case  made  specially  for  it. 

After  a  few  final  instructions  to  his  two  servants  and  a  gracious 
farewell  to  the  beauteous  demon,  Mary  Murdock,  Davis  parted  with 
the  trio,  who  made  their  way  directly  to  the  railroad  depot  from 
which  they  were  to  start  on  their  journey.  This  they  just  reached 
in  time  to  secure  seats  abroad  the  train  for  Manassas. 

All  the  way  along,  sthe  two  spies  and  their  fair  companion  were 
extremely  sociable ;  and  so  fascinating  were  the  beauty  and  accom- 
plishments of  the  latter,  that,  ere  half  the  contemplated  distance  was 
passed  over,  the  two  former  were  each  desperately  enamored  with 
her. 

It  was  night  when  Orange  Court-House  was  reached,  and  a  heavy 
rain,  mingled  with  snow,  rendered  the  weather  remarkably  disagree- 
able. 

One  of  the  spies,  who  had  a  friend  in  the  town,  proposed  to  pass 
the  night  there,  and  resume  the  journey  by  next  morning's  train. 

In  a  moment  Mary's  manner  was  entirely  changed. 

"  No  delay,"  she  said,  in  authoritative  tones  ;  "  did  not  the  Presi- 
dent specially  order  you  not  to  tarry  on  the  road,  under  any  consid- 
eration, but  to  push  forward  with  all  speed  ?" 

"  The  d — 1 !"  muttered  one  of  the  spies  to  his  companion,  in  a 
whisper,  "  she  must  be  very  intimate  with  Davis,  that  he  should  im- 
part to  her  the  instructions  he  gave  us.     "What  she  has  just  repeated 


'    THK  UNION  LINE  IN  SIGHT.  41 

were  the  exact  words  of  the  President  to  myself,  and  I'll  wager  mj 
life  that  we  were  alone  at  the  time." 

"  Oh,  well,"  was  the  rejoinder,  "perhaps  she's  a  sort  of  Louise  de 
La  Valiere  to  Davis.  It  was  on  your  account.  Miss  Murdock,"  con- 
tinued the  speaker,  turning  to  Mary,  "that  we  wished  to  stop  until 
the  weather  should  moderate." 

"Give  yourself  no  concern,  gentlemen,"  quickly  answered  the  fair 
girl,  "  for  my  welfare  or  ease.  Do  your  duty  to  the  Confederacy,  no 
matter  who  suflers  by  it.  The  President  timed  your  arrival  near  the 
Federal  lines  exactly,  and  there,  at  that  time,  you  must  be,  hail,  rain, 
or  shine  I  I  shall  be  there  to  see  that  you  experience  no  difficulty  in 
passing  the  enemy's  pickets." 

At  this  moment  the  train  rushed  onward,  and  soon  left  the  court- 
house in  the  distance. 

"  Miss  Murdock,"  said  one  of  the  spies,  after  silence  had  been 
maintained  for  some  time,  "how  do  you  intend  to  guide  us  through 
the  Federal  lines?  I  should  judge  you  to  have  been  a  resident  in  a 
large  city,  unaccustomed  to  such  a  rough  country  as  that  across 
which  these  same  lines  stretch." 

"  I  will  make  a  gap  with  this,"  she  answered,  glancing  sideways 
at  the  long  muslin  case  that  she  held  in  hsr  hand,  "  and  through 
that  gap  you  two  will  pass  on  to  Washington.  There  you  will  fulfil 
your  mission,  get  your  passes,  and  return  to  this  identical  point. 
Here  I  will  await  you,  and  make  your  passage  of  the  pickets  again 
an  easy  matter,  as  your  passes  will  not  take  you  outside  without 
assistance." 

"  May  I  be  bold  enough,"  continued  he  who  had  addressed  Mary, 
"  to  inquire  what  you  have  there  in  that  case,  and  how  it  will 
perform  the  almost  magic  powers  you  assign  to  it." 

"  Ah  I  time  enough  yet  for  you  to  ascertain  all  that,"  answered  the 
beautiful  girl,  with  an  expression  on  her  countenance  that  forbade 
farther  inquiry  upon  the  subject. 

As  the  trio  proceeded  Northward,  the  weather  became  dryer  and 
colder,  and  by  the  time  they  reached  the  appointed  spot,  snow  cover- 
ed the  ground  to  the  depth  of  several  inches,  above  which  the  bleak, 
frosty  wind  rushed  and  whirled  fiercely  with  its  wintry  music. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  at  night  when  they  came  within  sight  of  the 
outermost  line  of  Union  pickets.  We  say  within  sight,  and  with 
truth,  for,  though  the  stars  were  nearly  all  obscured  by  masses  of 
drifting  grey  clouds,  yet  the  reflection  of  the  snow  was  so  great  as  to 
render  objects  distinctly  visible  at  a  considerable  distance.  The 
Federal  pickets  were  prohibited,  under  the  extreme  penalty  of  death, 


42  THE  demon's  strategem. 

from  using  fire,  as  valuable  information  would  thereby  be  conveyed 
to  the  Rebel  commanders.  And  as  the  cold  was  excessive,  the  shiv- 
ering, but  faithful  heroes  were  obliged  to  keep  moving  about  contin- 
ually. By  reason  of  this  fact,  and  also  the  contrast  afforded  by  their 
heavy,  blue  overcoats  to  the  snow,  they  could  be  easily  seen  by 
Mary  Murdock  and  her  two  companions.  With  a  wonderful 
forethought,  the  beautiful  demon  had,  while  passing  a  farm-house 
near  by,  entered  the  latter,  and  purchased  three  white  sheets.  Re- 
taining one  of  these  herself,  she  gave  one  to  each  of  the  spies,  with 
orders  to  use  them  as  she.  should  instruct.  The  object  of  the  strange 
action  they  did  not  perceive  until  they  and  their  companion  reached 
a  small  clump  of  woods  between  which  and  the  moving  sentinels 
there  stretched  several  wide,  level  fields. 

"  Do  you  see  that  tall  soldier  across  there  ?"  asked  she  of  the  two 
spies, 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply, 

"  You  perceive,  of  course,  how  easily  he  can  be  distinguished,  even 
at  this  distance,  on  account  of  the  striking  contrast  afforded  by  his 
uniform  to  the  snow." 

"  Yes." 

"  And  you  perceive,  also,  that  at  the  moment  he  passes  that  large 
tree,  though  he  is  this  side  of  it,  yet  he  is  instantly  lost  to  view, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  dark  color  of  the  tree  blends  with  that  of 
his  dress." 

"  Yes,  we  see  all  that,"  answered  the  spies. 

"  Yery  well,"  resumed  Mary  Murdock.  "  Now,  we  must  cross 
these  fields,  which  are  uninterruptedly  white.  Should  we  do  so  with- 
out precaution,  discovery  would  be  certain,  and  an  alarm  would  follow 
just  as  certainly.  A  safeguard  against  this  I  obtained  when  I  pur- 
chased the  three  sheets  at  the  farm-house  at  which  we  last  stopped." 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes.  Miss  Murdock,"  exclaimed  one  of  Mary's  com- 
panions, in  a  voice  rather  incautiously  loud.  "  I  see  it  all  now  ; 
we're  to  wrap  ourselves  up  in  these  slieets,  which,  being  the  same 
color  as  the  snow,  cannot  be  detected  while  moving  over  the  snow." 

"  That  is  exactly  the  idea,"  returned  Mary ;  "  but  do  not  forget," 
she  continued,  "  that,  in  that  case,  you  must  keep  out  in  the  open 
space,  and  not  come,  if  it  is  possible  to  avoid  it,  before  any  dark  back- 
ground, as  trees  or  bushes;  for,  in  such  case,  your  disguise  makes  you 
even  more  conspicuous  to  the  sharp-sighted  sentinels,  than  do  their 
dark  uniforms  on  the  snow." 

"  Well  really,  Miss  Murdock,"  said  the   other  spy,  in  complimen- 


A    STRANGE    WEAPON.  43 

tary  tones,  "  you  are  a  genius  I     Who  would  ever  have  thought  of 
such  a  capital  expedient  ?" 

"  Well,  as  you  both  now  understand,  let  us  go  forward  speedily." 

As  the  beautiful  demon  was  speaking,  she  drew  from  the  long 
muslin  bag  or  case  that  had  excited  the  curiosity  of  her  companions, 
a  simple  bow,  such  a  one  as  is  used  by  a  few  of  the  Indians  of  the 
Far  West.  It  was  not  quite  three  feet  long,  and  formed  of  a 
single  piece  of  bone  as  white  as  ivory,  and  equally  hard  and 
polished.  In  addition,  however,  it  was  possessed  of  an  unsurpassed 
elasticity. 

.  [As  the  reader,  who,  may  never  have  heard  of  the  use  of  these 
peculiar  bows  by  the  Savages  of  the  plains,  may  think  such  a  weapon 
impossible,  we  deem  it  necessary  in  this  connection,  to  describe  it. 
The  bows  in  common  use  by  the  Indians,  consist  generally  of  a  strip 
of  the  ^025  (Z'  Arc,  finished  on  the  back  with  layers  of  the  sinews  and 
glue  of  the  bufi'alo.  Others  are  made  by  lashing  several  flat  strips 
of  the  bufialo's  horns  securely  together.  But  how  or  where  the 
Indians  obtain  the  strange  bow  to  which  we  refer,  no  traveller  has 
ever  yet  been  able  to  ascertain.  When  questioned  concerning  them, 
the  Savages  invariably  point  Westward  toward  the  Eocky  Mountains, 
and  exclaim,  "  Medicine,''''  which  means  *'  Mystery."  The  only  plausi- 
ble theory  yet  advanced  in  regard  to  the  weapon  is,  that  the  coast 
tribes  on  the  Pacific  form  it  from  the  tooth,  or  rather  snout,  of  the 
Narwhale,  which  is  often  stranded,  and  carrying  it  across  the  moun- 
tains, barter  it  with  the  nations  of  the  Plains.  Whatever  its  origin, 
such  is  its  tremendous  power,  that  a  skillful  hunter  at  a  distance  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  can  throw  an  arrow  from  it  clean  through 
the  body  of  a  buffalo.  Travellers  have  sometimes  succeeded  in 
purchasing  these  bows  from  the  Indians,  but  it  is  seldom  they  can 
be  persuaded  to  part  with  them,  even  at  the  most  exorbitant  prices.] 

Both  the  spies  were  surprised  and  disappointed  at  the  production, 
by  Mary  Murdock,  of  a  simple  bow,  after  their  curiosity  and  expecta- 
tion had  been  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  mysterious  contents 
of  the  muslin  case.  Their  fair  companion,  however,  did  not  give 
them  much  time  to  indulge  in  their  newly  awakened  emotions ; 
for,  taking  the  bow  and  several  arrows  in  her  hand,  she  entirely 
enveloped  herself  in  the  white  sheet,  ordering  them  to  do  the  same, 
and  to  follow  her  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  feet. 

A  moment  more,  and  she  was  moving  stealthily,  but  rapidly 
toward  the  sentinel,  who,  poor  fellow,  thinking  only  of  the  loved  ones 
that  would  greet  his  return  home,  tramped  back  and  forth,  all  uncon- 
scious of  the  fate  that  was  approaching  him. 


44  A   OAP  m  THE    UNICCf   LINE. 

The  demon  girl  was  within  hearing  of  her  intended  victim  as  the 
latter,  for  a  moment  forgetting  himself,  said  aloud : 

"  I  wonder  if  Jane  got  my  last  money  all  right,  and  got  something 
for  the  boys  out  of  it  ?" 

Half  his  sentence  only  was  spoken  before  the  terrible  being,  whose 
fiercely  burning  eyes  were  fastened  upon  him,  dropped  on  one  knee, 
placed  an  arrow  on  her  bow-string,  and  raised  the  weapon  for  an 
aim.  The  next  instant  the  passing  wind  bore  away  on  its  icy  wings 
the  twang  of  the  bow-string,  and  the  low  death-groan  of  a  gallant 
soldier  of  the  Union. 

No  angel  of  Heaven  turned  aside  the  winged  shaft  from  the  picket's 
heart,  and  he  sank  dead  on  the  snowy  winding-sheet  at  his  feet,  with 
his  last  yearning  words  for  Jane  and  his  boys  trembling  on  his  lips. 

The  murderess,  after  the  commission  of  the  horrible  deed,  quickly 
rose  from  her  kneeling  position,  and  stepped  back  to  her  two  com- 
panions, who  had  halted. 

"  Now  then,"  whispered  she,  "  is  your  opportunity  to  go  forward. 
You  will  meet  with  no  opposition." 

"But  there  is  most  likely  another  line,"  quickly  suggested  one  of 
the  spies. 

"  If  there  were  a  hundred  more  lines,"  replied  Mary,  "you  could 
pass  them  all  now.     The  difficulty  is  all  gone ;  press  forward.     I  will 

await  your  return  here." 

"  Wait  here?"  said  both,  in  one  breath,  "why  we  shall  be  several 
days  away." 

"  I  will  await  you  here !"  repeated  Mary  emphatically.  "  Hasten 
forward ;  all  is  clear  for  you.  I  may  go  no  further." 

Doubly  mystified,  but  impelled  by  a  power  they  could  not  resist, 
the  two  spies  obeyed  the  order  of  their  companion,  and,  quickly 
passing  through  the  gap  that  Mary  Murdock  had  opened  for  them, 
they  were  soon  within  the  lines  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  making 
their  way  to  Washington. 

When  they  were  gone  out  of  sight,  the  demon  girl,  uttering  some 
wild  incantation  in  a  low  tone,  cast  away  the  sheet  that  she  had  fold- 
ed about  her  when  about  to  cross  the  field  toward  the  picket.  As 
she  did  so,  she  muttered  : 

"  Silly  men !  they  know  not  who  it  was  that  assisted  them  on  their 
errand  of  wickedness!  But  I  must  get  my  arrow,"  continued  the 
speaker,  turning  and  hurrying  back  to  where  the  unfortunate  volun- 
teer lay  dead. 

"Much  depended  on  your  death,  soldier !"  she  said,  in  almost  a 
bated  whisper,  gazing  down   upon  the  pale,  upturned  face.    "  And,'' 


THE   DEAD    PICKET.  45 

» 

contiaued  she,  as  she  plucked  the  arrow  from  the  breast  of  the 
corpse,  "  if  no  adverse  influcQce  is  at  hand,  all  is  well  with  treason !" 
'Thus  speaking,  Mary  Murdock  stepped  lightly  away  as  though  she 
had  committed  no  crime,  and  wended  her  way  back  to  the  farm- 
house at  which  she  had  purcliased  the  sheets. 

When  the  guard,  in  making  their  next  round,  came  upon  the 
frozen  body  of  the  Union  soldier,  who  had  thus  fallen  a  victim  to 
midnight  assassination,  they  examined  his  wound,  and  decided  that 
he  had  been  shot  by  some  skulking,  cowardly  "bushwhacker."  But 
the  pickets  on  either  side  of  him  were  ready  to  make  oath  that  not  a 
single  shot  had  been  fired  during  the  whole  night.  Some  thought  of 
examining  the  locality,  within  musket  range,  for  footprints ;  but  this 
waa  concluded  to  be  useless.  In  the  first  place,  the  wind  had  been 
so  high  that  footprints  w^tq,  most  likely,  all  drifted  over  ;  and  even 
if  found,  of  what  utility  would  the  discovery  be  ?  Justice  could  not 
be  meted  out  to  the  dastard  culprit. 

So,  with  soldiers'  regrets  for  a  comrade,  the  murdered  picket  was 
buried,  and  another  soldier  posted  in  his  place. 

His  wife  Jane,  and  the  "  two  boys,"  had  received  his  money,  and, 
with  tender  solicitude  for  the  dear  one  far  away,  battling  for  the 
Union,  they  had  well  filled  a  box  with  comforts  and  dainties  for 
"  Private  James  Ilallowell." 

The  box  came,  but,  alas !  it  was  unopened  by  the  intended  recipient. 
The  Captain  of  Hallowell's  company  wrote  to  the  widow  and 
orphans  an  account  of  the  murdered  husband  and  father,  and  added 
what  comfort  he  could  in  the  postcript,  that  "  the  grave,  where  the 
body  lay,  had  been  marked." 

Sad,  sad  comfort,  indeed,  to  those  whose  poverty  forbade  even  a 
sorrowing  visit  to  the  loved  one's  sepulchre. 


-•-•-*- 


CHAPTER    III. 

A  STARTLESTG    PROMISE    FULFILLED. 

After  the  departure  of  Mr.  "Wetherill  from  the  presence  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  General  McClellan,  the  minds  of  both  the  latter  were 
too  much  occupied  with  matters  of  public  importance  to  remember, 
for  any  length  of  time,  the   statement   made  by  the   former,  that  he 


46  A  STARTLING    PROMISE    FULFILLED. 

would  visit  each  of  them  before  morning.  Consequently,  upon  retir- 
ing, to  snatch,  if  possible,  some  slight  refreshment  from  slumber, 
neither  one  of  them  took  the  precaution  of  surrounding  himself  with 
the  guards  proposed  by  Mr.  Wetherill. 

General  McClellan,  after  wishing  the  President  good  night,  parted 
from  him,  and  took  his  way  over  to  his  own  headquarters ;  while  Mr. 
Lincoln,  weighed  down  with  the  onerous  cares  of  his  public  position, 
and  the  grief  attendant  upon  the  death  of  Willie,  his  son,  cast 
himself  into  an  arm-chair  that  was  in  an  anti-chamber  of  the  apart- 
ment in  which  the  interview  had  been  held.  He  fell  asleep  much 
sooner  than  he  -expected,  and  slumbered  soundly  for  about  two 
hours.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time,  he  was  gently  awakened  by 
a  hand  that  was  laid  upon  his  shoulder.  He  was  on  his  feet  in  an 
instant,  and  fully  aroused. 

"  Ah !  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  "disturbing  you ;  but, 
as  you  said  you  would  be  pleased  to  see  me  in  my  '  startling  visit,' 
as  you  were  pleased  to  call  it,  I  felt  obliged  to  take  the  liberty." 

The  person  who  uttered  these  words  was  indeed  none  other  than 
Mr.  Wetherill,  who  had  conversed  with  the  President  so  shortly  be- 
fore. Mr.  Lincoln,  though  he  had  thrown  a  joking  sort  of  gentle 
irony  into  the  word  startling,  when  he  had  used  it  to  Mr,  Wetherill 
regarding  the  present  visit,  was  indeed  startled.  Upon  entering 
the  anti-chamber  in  which  he  was,  he  had  locked  the  door  communi- 
cating with  the  larger  apartment,  and  thus^  as  he  thought,  secured 
himself  from  intrusion. 

If  his  visitor  had  been  a  hona  fide  spirit,  Mr.  Lincoln  could  have 
satisfied  himself  with  the  explanation  that  the  apparition  was  the 
result  of  his  own  harrassed  state  of  mind,  or  he  could  have  gone 
even  farther,  and  allowed  the  ability  generally  claimed  for  appari- 
tions, of  passing  doubly-locked  and  barred  doors  without  the  slight- 
est inconvenience,  or  asking  of  leave.  But  there  before  him  stood 
Mr.  Wetherill,  in  his  own  proper,  fleshly  form.  The  President, 
with  the  cool  courage  of  his  nature,  reached  forth  his  hand  to  take 
that  of  Mr.  Wetherill,.  to  convince  his  own  senses  that  they  were  not 
deceived. 

"  Well,  really,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  said  he,  addressing  the  latter,  •*  I 
must  confess  myself  a  great  deal  more  startled  than  if  I  had  seen  you 
in  the  spirit,  for  then  I  could,  perhaps,  have  satisfied  myself,  or 
rather  mystified  myself,  with  an  application  of  those  half-beclouded 
doctrines  of  Mesmerism  and  Spiritualism.  You  must  certainly 
possess  some  strange  powers  that  have  never  yet  been  brought  to 
the  notice  of  the  world." 


MR.   LINCOLN   MYSTIFIED.  fiWT 

"  I  saw  from  your  manner  this  evening,  your  Excellency," 
answered  Mr.  Wetberill,  "  that  you  deemed  at  least  a  portion  of 
what  I  said  to  be  the  language  of  an  unreasonable  enthusiast. 
Therefore  I  resolved  upon  this  visit.  I  will  not  detain  you  now, 
your  Excellency,  longer  than  to  receive  your  assurance  of  an  inter- 
view to-morrow  at  two  o'clock,  privately,  if  you  choose,  or  in  the 
presence  of  General  McClellan." 

"  May  I  name  a  condition  thereof,  Mr,  Wetherill  ?"  asked  the 
President. 

''  That  is  a  right  you  already  enjoy,  your  Excellency,"  replied  the 
other,  '4 and,  therefore,  needs  not  my  assent;  name  it,  if  you  please." 

"  Then,  will  you,"  returned  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  give  me  an  extra  proof 
of  your  mysterious  power  by  making  your  way  into  my  presence,  at 
the  ho.ur  you  have  set  to-morrow,  without  the  knowledge  of  any 
one?" 

"  "With  pleasure,"  was  the  prompt  reply ;  "  and  I  will,  besides, 
add  what  I  said  this  evening,  that  you  may  place  as  many  guards 
about  you  as  you  choose,  and  give  them  express  orders  not  to  admit 
me,  yet  you  shall  see  me  in  my  own  proper  person  at  two  o'clock,  or 
as  near  it  as  possible." 

"  Really,  you  astound  me,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  rejoined  the  President ; 
"but,  to  make  the  proof  completely  satisfactory,  I  will  issue  the 
orders  you  suggest,  and  General  McClellan  and  I  will  await  you  in 
the  next  apartment." 

"  Very  good,  your  Excellency,  I  must  now,  however,  leave  y«u  to 
fulfil  my  promise  to  the  General.     I  will  be  punctual.     Good  night." 

"  Good  night,  sir,"  replied  the  President,  as  his  visitor  turned  to 
leave  the  room. 

The  only  exit,  as  we  have  recorded,  was  the  door  leading  into 
the  larger  apartment,  in  which  the  first  interview  had  been  held 
between  the  President,  General  McClellan,  and  Mr.  Wetherill.  This 
Mr.  Wetherill  opened  without  the  slightest  difficulty — a  fact  that 
served  only  to  increase  the  President's  astonishment,  for,  as  he  had 
been  sleeping  when  his  visitor  came  in,  he  did  not  know  whether  the 
entrance  of  the  latter  had  been  effected  by  way  of  the  door  or 
window.  The  bolt  that  secured  the  former  always  made  a  grating 
noise  when  turned,  and  would  certainly  have  roused  any  slumberer. 
So  deeply  mystified  was  the  President  altogether,  that  he  was  entire- 
ly at  a  loss  what  to  think  of  the  mysterious  Mr.  Wetherill. 

The  latter,  upon  leaving  Mr.  Lincoln,  set  out  straightway  for  the 
headquarters  of  General  McClellan,  who  though,  as  we  have  pre- 
viously   said,   too    much    occupied   with    his   duties   to   order  an 


'4S  A   VISIT  TO   GENERAL   M'CLELLAN. 

extra  guard,  was  nevertheless  regularly  guarded,  as  military  dis- 
cipline required.  The  indefatigable  soldier  had  merely  thrown 
himself  upon  a  lounge,  slept  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  risen 
to  prosecute  the  details  of  a  plan  that  he  was  maturing.  Two  senti- 
nels, fully  armed,  stood  immediately  outside  the  door  of  their  com- 
mander's room,  and  rough  usage  awaited  that  man  who  should  dare 
to  force  a  passage  into  the  presence  of  the  General  without  his  order. 

McClellan  was  attentively  engaged  pointing  ofif  a  military  map  at 
the  moment  that  the  voice  of  Mr.  Wetherill  fell  upon  his  ear,  and  so 
engrossed  was  he  at  the  moment,  that  the  intruder  was  obliged  to 
repeat  his  salutation  ere  the  General's  attention  was  called  from  his 
task.  His  astonishment  was  most  profound  as  he  thus  beheld,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Wetherill,  the  fulfilment  of  an  assertion  to  which  he 
had  not  attached  any  extraordinary  importance;  his  statement  to 
Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  boyhood  remembrance  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. 

Mr.  Wetherill,  after  exchanging  a  few  words  with  McClellan,  and 
shaking  his  hand  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  the  President's,  in 
order  to  assure  him  that  there  was  no  illusion,  took  his  departure. 
The  General,  who  accompanied  him  to  the  doorway,  and  "passed'^ 
him  out,  was  as  much  amazed  as  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been,  at  the  start- 
ling fact  which  had  thus  been  brought  so  conspicuously  to  his  notice. 

This  amazement  was  rather  increased  by  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  next  day,  at  which  time  he  met,  according  to  appoint- 
meq^,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  singular  Wetherill.  The  anxiety  of  both 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  they  were  in  the  apartment  where 
the  conference  was  to  be  held,  fully  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the 
appointed  time.  The  President  had  completed  such  arrangements 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  to  reach  his  presence,  at 
least  by  any  of  the  hocus-pocus  means  that  magicians  might  employ, 
and  both  he  and  General  McClellan  awaited  the  appearance  of 
Wetherill  with  much  anxiety. 

Two  o'clock  came  and  passed ;  it  was  five  minutes  after,  and,  as 
the  President  held  his  watch  in  his  hand,  he  said  to  McClellan,  with 
a  smile : 

"Our  mysterious  friend,  doubtless  owing  to  the  barriers  I  have 
put  in-  his  way,  is  not  very  punctual.  And  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  he  will  miss  the  appointment  altogether,  through  my  fault,  eh  ? 
I  must  certainly  make  an  apology  to  him  if  he  chances  near  me 
again." 

"  No  apology  whatever  is  needed,  your  Excellency,"  exclaimed  the 
voice  of  Wetherill  at  this  moment. 


TUK   PRESIDENT   DISAPPOINTED. 


49 


Mr.  Lincoln  and  McClellan,  who  had  been  looking  toward  tho 
door  by  which  they  expected  their  guest  to  come,  both  turned  as 
the  voice  fell  upon  their  ears,  and  there,  standing  in  the  middle  of  tho 
apartment,  was  Wetherill. 


CHAPTER      IV. 

6ENt:ral  m'clellan  makes  a  singular  discovery. 

The  President  glanced  first  at  the  Englishman,  and  then  at  Gener- 
al McClellan,  with  a  look  that  said,  as  clearly  as  words  could  have 
done,    "Well,  I   will   have  to   shoulder  the  responsibility  of  the 

mistake." 

Then,  stepping  forward,  he  took  the  hand  of  the  former,  and  said, 
in  his  honest,  straight-forward  manner  : 

"  Mr.  Wetherill,  I  must  acknowledge  fully  the  powers  you  claim. 
I  took  every  precaution  to  prevent  your  ingress,  and  yet  you  are 
here.     But   pray  be  seated,  and  let  us  have   some   talk  about  this 

"matter." 

The  visitor,  acceding  to  the  request  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  placed  himself 
in  one  of  three  chairs  close  at  hand,  while  his  two  companions  took 

the  others. 

"Now,  M'r.  Wetherill,"  resumed  the  President,  after  a  short  pause, 
"  if  I  understand  you  aright,  you  have  come  from  England  for  the 
purpose  of  securing,  if  possible,  the  girl  of  whom  Lord  Palmerston 
writes  so  strongly." 

"  That  is  the  object  of  my  journey,  your  Excellency,"  rejoined 
Mr.  Wetherill,  without  hesitation. 

"  And  she  possesses  powers  of  the  same  mysterious  character  a3 
you  have  given  such  satisfactory  evidence  of  possessing  yourself, 
does  she?" 

"  She  does.  At  present,  however,  her  powers— which  are  all  used 
for  the  furtherance  of  evil— are  limited  to  a  sphere,  or  circle,  so  to 
speak,  of  smaller  dimensions  than  my  own.  Yet  there  have  been 
occasions  during  my  experience  with  her,  that  her  forces,  or  rather 
the  forces  possessing  her,  have  been  stronger  or  more  positive  than 
mine.  With  the  exception  of  these  occasions,  I  have  always  been 
able  to  control  her  by  constant  attention  and  prompt  action." 


50  THE   DEMON   AT   WORK, 

"  Well,  Mr.  Wetlierill,"  said  General  McClellan,  "  from  what  you 
Lave  said  previously,  I  should  judge  that  she  is  now  beyond  your 
control,  owing  to  the  fact  of  your  sudden  illness.  Can  she,  while 
thus  freed  from  your  influence,  do  harm,  that  the  exercise  of  your 
own  powers  could  not  annul  or  defeat  ?" 

"  Should  she  once  consummate  any  plot  of  evil,"  returned  Mr. 
Wetherill,  "no  power  of  mine  could  undo  it,  or  even  palliate  its  efi'ects. 
But,  if  I  throw  my  influence  around  her  ere  this  consumation  has 
been  reached,  I  can  defeat  her  most  promising  projects,  not  without 
a  struggle,  it  is  true ;  and  the  nearer  completion  she  should  have 
her  plot,  the  more  terrible  would  this  struggle  be." 

"  And  are  these  amazing  powers,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  asked  the  Presi- 
dent, with  the  deepest  interest  in  his  tones,  "  the  fruit  of  science  ?" 

"  Not  in  the  common  idea  of  the  word  science,  your  Excellency, 
but  they  are  the  fruit  of  deep  and  untiring  investigations  of  those 
mental  sciences,  which,  like  the  productions  of  Milton,  are  more 
talked  of  than  studied." 

"And  you  say  they  are  within  the  reach  of  any  ordinary  mind 
that  will  make  the  necessary  researches." 

"1  firmly  believe  they  are,  your  Excellency." 

"  And  has  Lord  Palmerston  ever  made  any  of  the  investigations 
of  which  you  speak?" 

"He  has,  your  Excellency,  at  least  so  far  as  to  convince  himself' 
of  the  truth  and  rationality  of  the  doctrine  or  science." 

Mr.  Lincoln  here  read  with  slowness  and  care  the  nobleman's  let- 
ter, which  had  been  left  with  him  by  Mr.  Wetherill  on  the  previous 
evening.     When  he  had  finished,  he  remarked,  with  much  emphasis : 

"  The  more  I  think,  and  the  more  I  hear  of  this  singular  being, 
Mr.  Wetherill,  the  more  thrillingly  interested  am  I  in  her.  Certainly, 
a  gentleman  of  Lord  Palmerston's  age  and  attainments  would  not 
use  such  a  phrase  as  'diabolical  phenomenon  of  Nature,'  in  regard 
to  a  young  and  beautiful  girl,  without  some  good  foundation  there- 
for. And  I  must  acknowledge,  sir,  that  her  powers,  and  also  your 
own,  have  awakened  in  me  a  feeling  that  I  can  hardly  describe.  It 
is  not  a  superstition,  it  is  not  an  alarm ;  and  yet  there  is  somewhat 
of  each  of  these  mixed  up  in  it.  Perhaps  you  can  imagine  what  it 
is." 

"  I  think  I  can,  your  Excellency,"  replied  Mr.  Wetherill. 

General  McClellan  was  at  this  moment  about  to  make  some  re- 
mark; but  he  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  Mr.  Wetherill,  who, 
starting  involuntarily  to  his  feet,  exclaimed : 

"  She  is  at  her  evil  work !  I  feel  her  influence  ;  not  directly,  but 


A  DIFFICULTY.  6^ 

through  one  or  two  intermediate  parties.  The  stroke,  whatever  it  is, 
Gener;\l,  is  directed  toward  the  army  under  your  command,  and  it  is 
successful." 

General  McClellan  glanced  at  the  President,  and  the  President 
glanced  at  him  with  a  baffled  expression  of  countenance,  in  which 
many  an  observer  would  have  said  there  was  a  shade  of  suspicion. 

"  I  must  set  out  for  Kichmond  early  in  the  niorning,"  continued 
Mr.  Wetherill,  "for  which  purpose,  I  beg  your  Excellency,  you  and 
also  General  McClellan,  wik  furnish  me  with  authority  to  leave  and 
re-enter  the  lines  of  the  Union  army," 

Mr.  Lincoln  has,  during  his  public  career,  won  for  himself  the 
reputation  of  a  very  direct  man  ;  and  on  the  occasion  to  which  we 
refer,  he  did  not  make  an  exception  to  this. 

*'Mr.  Wetherill,"  said  he,  as  the  Englishman  ceased  speaking,  "you 
are,  of  course,  well  aware  of  the  delicate  position  in  which  I  am 
placed,  as  the  chief  officer  of  the  United  States  Government,  espe- 
cially regarding  one  of  your  own  nation.  You  are  equally  aware  that 
there  is  between  the  American  and  British  nations  a  hostile  feeling, 
which,  unfortunately,  the  latter  daily  renders  more  bitter.  Under 
these  circumstances,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  you  have  come 
here  to  render  the  Union  a  most  valuable  assistance,  it  is  necessary, 
before  you  receive  the  power  for  which  you  ask,  that  you  go  through 
a  certain  formula  in  the  presence  of  the  British  Minister,  Lord 
Lyons.  To  this,  both  on  our  account  and  also  on  your  own,  I  hope 
you  will  make  no  objections." 

"None,  whatever,  your  Excellency,"  promptly  rejoined  Mr. 
Wetherill;  "I  can  fully  appreciate  the  delicacy  of  your  position,  and 
the  only  regret  I  have  to  express  in  regard  to  the  matter  is,  the 
delay  that  most  necessarily  occur." 

"  No  delay,  scarcely,  at  all,  Mr.  "Wetherill,"  answered  the  Presi- 
dent ;  "  I  will  order  the  carriage,  and  we  will  all  ride  over  to  see  him 
forthwith." 

"  Very  good,  your  Excellency,  let  us  go  at  once," 

The  President  rang  his  bell,  ordered  the  servant  who  answered 
the  summons  to  have  the  carriage  got  out  immediately,  and,  within 
ten  minutes,  he  and .  General  McClellan  and  Mr.  Wetherill  were  on 
their  way  to  visit  Lord  Lyons. 

Unfortunately,  the  British  Minister  had  gone  out  only  a  few  min- 
utes previously,  to  attend  to  some  private  business,  ,and  was  not 
expected  back  until  late  in  the  evening.  •■  ' 

This  was  a  portion  of  the  delay  of  which  Mr.  Wetherill  had  spoken 
as   likely   to    occur.     But  it   was    unavoidable,   as    Mr.   Lincoln's 


62  MR.   WETHERILL   ON   A   CHASE. 

position  in  regard  to  public  matters  required  the  utmost  dis- 
creetness, notwithstanding  the  autograph  letter  of  assurance  from 
Lord  Palmerston  concerning  Mr.  Wetherill,  and  notwithstanding, 
also,  Mr.  Wetherill's  own  assertions. 

The  Englishman  saw  at  a  glance  exactly  how  Mr.  Lincoln  waa 
placed,  and  immediately  acquiesced  in  the  necessary  detention,  re- 
marking, however,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  feared  some  evil  would 
result  therefrom.  A  visit  to  Lord  Lyons  was  fixed  for  the  next 
morning,  and  the  three  once  more  parted,  the  President  returning 
to  his  mansion,  Mr.  Wetherill  to  his  hotel,  and  General  McClellan 
to  his  headquarters. 

The  following  day,  all  were  punctually  present,  and  were  received 
by  the  British  Minister  with  his  usual  affability.  Lord  Palmerston's 
letter  he  perused  with  the  deepest  interest  and  surprise,  after  pro- 
nouncing it  to  be  genuine.  He  then  entered  into  a  somewhat 
lengthy  conversation  with  Mr.  Wetherill  regarding  Mary  Murdock 
and  Lord  Palmerston,  upon  the  conclusion  of  which  he  assured  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  General  McClellan  that  he  felt  every  confidence  in 
vouching  for  Mr.  Wetherill's  sincerity. 

The  President  and  the  British  minister  now  engaged  for  a  short 
time  in  private  conversation,  the  result  of  which  was  that  Lord 
Lyons  inquired  of  Mr.  Wetherill  if  he  had  any  objection  to  passing 
his  word  as  to  the  object  of  his  journey. 

Some  moments  were  spent  by  the  Englishman  in  consideration, 
and  then  he  replied  : 

"  Under  ordinary  circumstances,  your  Lordship,  I  would  most 
positively  refuse  anything  of  the  sort ;  but  as  I  fully  appreciate  the 
difficulty  and  delicacy  of  his  Excellency's  position,  and  also  that  of 
General  McClellan,  I  yield  a  most  ready  assent  to  the  requirement." 

"  That  is  all  that  is  necessary  then,  Mr.  W  etherill,  and  I  thank  you 
for  your  candor,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  stepping  forward,  and  taking 
the  Englishman's  hand,  "General  McClellan,"  continued  he,  "will 
furnish  you  with  the  required  passes,  and  if  at  any  time,  morning, 
noon,  or  midnight,  you  should  wish  to  see  me,  your  card  sent  in  will 
gain  for  you  a  prompt  audience." 

General  McClellan  immediately  wrote  the  '  general '  pass,  and 
placed  it  in  Mr.  Wetherill's  hand,  with  some  remark  in  reference  to 
the  strange  being  that  the  Englishman  had  made  such  a  long 
journey  to  capture. 

Bidding  his  distinguished  companions  good  morning,  Mr.  Weth- 
erill took  his  departure,  and  lost  no  time  in  placing  the  now  historic 
river  Potomac  behind  him. 


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A  STAUTLIKG   DIPCOVKTIY.  fl 

General  McClellan  having,  by  tliis  date,  about  consummated  his 
phtns  for  a  grand  strategic  movement  against  the  Kcbel  army  of 
Virginia,  could  hardly  spare  the  time  that  lie  had  given  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Wotherill,  and,  therefore,  after  giving  the  latter  the  re- 
quired pass,  he  hastened  back  to  his  headquarters. 

Here  he  remained,  busily  engaged,  for  several  hours,  with  staff  and 
other  officers.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  finding  himself  alone,  he 
went  to  a  certain  drawer,  in  which  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  keep- 
ing his  most  valuable  and  important  papers.  In  this  drawer,  that 
was  furnished  with  a  peculiar  lock,  of  which  he  alone  had  the  key, 
was,  in  truth,  the  success  or  failure  of  the  commander's  plans;  and  he, 
therefore,  guarded  it  with  rigorous  care.  Not  only  had  lie  thus 
securely  locked  these  valuable  papers  away  from  sight,  but .  he  had 
also  added  the  precaution  of  sealing  each  one  up  se['arately. 

The  moment  he  took  them  from  the  drawer,  it  struck  him  that 
they  were  not  in  the  exact  order  in  which  he  had  left  them;  and  a 
closer  examination  showed  that  each  had  been  moit  adroitly  opened, 
without  disfiguring  the  seal  in  the  sliglitest  degi'ee. 

One  after  another,  the  General  opened  and  examined  them  closely. 
As  he  picked  up  the  last,  he  felt  within  the  folds  thereof  a  small, 
hard  substance,  that  proved  to  be  a  diaiwmclf  Whether  it  had  fallen 
from  a  breast-pin  or  finger-ring,  the  astonished  General  could  not 
decide;  but  that  it  hjid  not  been  dropped  by  himselr',  was  certain,  as 
he  never  used  diamonds.  There  was  another  fact,  too,  whicii  called 
his  attention.  The  document  in  which  this  stray  gem  was  concealed, 
bore  evidence  of  having  been  crumpled  somewhat,  as  though  some 
person  copying  its  contents  had  been  suddenly  alarmed,  and  attempted 
to  thrust  it  quickly  back  into  its  place. 

As  McClellan  held  the  paper  in  one  hand,  and  the  precious  stone  in 
the  other,  regarding  both  with  feelings  that  can  be  easily  understood, 
a  thought  suddenly  flashed  upon  his  mind  that  caused  him  to  start. 
He  remembered  that  Mr.  Wetherill,  the  Englishman,  to  whom  he 
had  BO  recently  given  a  "general  pass,"  wore  a  diamond  finger-ring, 
the  brilliancy  of  which  had  attracted  his  attention  at  each  interview, 
except  that  at  the  office  of  Lord  Lyons.  There  he  noticed  that  the 
ring  uas  minus  its  sparkling  gam. 

The   conclusion  was   almost   inevitable,  that  Wetherill  was   th« 
owner  of  the   brilliant,  and  that  he  had  lo.it  it  u-liile  rausaclcing  th» 
eoateats  of  i/ie  drawer,  and  not  noticed  its  loss  at  the  time. 
3 


6S  rOBWARD,  ARKT   OF   THB   POTOMAC  I 


CHAPTER  y. 

FORWARD,  ARMY   OF  THE   POTOMAC ! 

General  McClellan's  first  impulse  was  to  order  an  instant  pur- 
suit and  capture  of  Wetherill ;  but  the  latter  was  bj  this  time  safely 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and,  besides,  the  power  be  had  exhi 
bited,  to  both  the  Ge  leral  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  rendering  himself 
actually  invisible,  convinced  McClellan  that  a  chase  would  only  prove 
•  fruitless.  Strange  to  say,  also,  though  the  circumstantial  evidence  of 
the  diamond  was  so  positive  against  Wetherill,  yet  the  very  recollec- 
tion of  the  Englishman's  almost  supernatural  power  gave  the  General 
considerable  relief;  for  it  induced  him  to  reason  thus:  If  "Wetherill 
had  originally  designed  to  act  treacherously  by  the  Government,  he 
most  certainly  had  no  need  to  make  himself  known  at  all ;  continual 
concealment  would  have  been  his  surest  safety.  Added  to  tins,  was 
the  double  weight  of  Lord  Palmerston's  voucher  and  the  recommen- 
dation of  Lord  Lyons. 

While  pondering  the  matter,  McClellan  all  at  once  called  to  m'n\d 
the  exclamation  uttered  by  Wetherill,  on  the  night  previous,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  himself,  concerning  Mary  Murdock,  or, 
rather,  her  seco  vlary  influence.  The  powers  of  this  my:?terious,  fear- 
ful girl  were,  according  to  her  guardian,  little  inferior  to  his  own  ; 
and  perhaps  it  had  been  her  hands  that  had  thus  violated  the  docu- 
ments in  the  private  drawer.  In  either  case,  whoever  was  the 
culprit,  the  result  would  undoubtedly  be  the  same,  viz.,  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  the  documents,  and  especially  valuable  to  the  rebel 
commanders,  would  certainly  be  conveyed  to  the  latter. 

Had  he  been  fully  prepared  to  move  at  once,  General  McClellan 
would  not  have  cared  much  for  tlic  discovery ;  but  he  was  waiting 
for  other  parties  to  perform  certain  duties,  which  they  were  delaying 
from  day  to  day.  Over  the**e  parties  he  ccmld  exercise  no  control, 
but  waii  himself  depcudent  upon  their  action  in  his  own  movements. 

Among  the  papers  in  the  drawer,  was  President  Lincoln's  first  war 
order,  dated  Jaiiujiry  27rh,  and  peremptorily  commanding  a  general 
advance  upon  the  rebellion,  by  the  Union  Army  and  Navy,  on  Febru- 
ary 22d.  McClellan  f  >lt  confident  that,  if  the  fact  of  the  existence 
of  this  order  reached  the  rebel  commanders,  and  also  his  own  plans 
of  an   advance  on  Richmond  by  way  of  the  Peninsula,  he  would 


LIK0Or>X's    ADVICIK    TO    Jf'CLKLLAir.  99 

quickly  be  informod  of  it  by  tbe  evacuation  of  tbeir  stronghold  al 
Manassas,  and  that  also  at  Columbus. 

Without  delay,  General  McClellan  sought  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  cora- 
muiiicat<?d  to  him  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  violated  papers.  H» 
alrio  imparte«i  to  him  his  own  thoughts  a^out  the  matter. 

"  It  i.s  too  bad,  indeed,  General,''  replied  the  President,  *'  it  is  too 
bd  that,  just  as  we  arc  about  to  reach  a  consummation  of  our  plans, 
our  joy  and  hope  are  dashed  to  earth  by  skulking  traitors.  But,  as 
I  told  you  when  you  first  camo  to  Washington,  General,  we  are 
const;\utly  surround«'d  by  them.  H^>wever,  we  must  do  the  best  we 
can.  If  the  Rebels  have  obtained  tiie  information,  and  take  advan- 
tage of  it,  we'll  have  to  peg  awaiy  at  them  any  way." 

General  MeClelLin  had  expected  correctl}',  for  a  week  did  not  pasa 
ere  his  scouts  brought  iutelligen>*e  to  him  of  certain  strange  move- 
ments on  the  part  of  the  Rebel  army,  looking  toward  a  general  fall- 
ing back,  especially  with  the  Army  of  Virginia.  The  intended 
surprise,  therefore,  which,  if  successful,  would  have  been  the  grandee* 
achievement  of  the  War,  was  frustrated;  and  all  that  remained  to 
MeClellan  was,  as  the  President  had  suggested,  to  do  the  best  h* 
(X^uld,  and  "peg  away  at  the  Rebels  any  wav." 

He  at  once  ordered  an  advance  by  General  Banks,  who  according- 
ly pushed  his  column  toward  Winchester.  With  the  most  strenuous- 
exertions  on  his  part,  however,  MeClellan  could  not  get  the  main 
body  of  his  army  in  motion  until  the  Ten\>h  of  March,  when,  with 
wildly  beating  hearts,  and  with  the  prayers  and  blessings  of  the 
whole  loyal  nation  following  it,  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac 
commenced  its  memorable  series  of  marches,  campaigns,  victories, 
and  disasters.  This  is  no  place  to  discuss  the  qualifications  or  the 
shortcomings  of  the  officers  who  have  alternately  commanded  thiii 
splendid  host;  but  the  nation  must  join  with  us  when,  while  remind- 
ing it  of  Antietam  and  Gettysburg,  we  exclaim  : 

"God  bles.s  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  I" 

But  to  return  to  our  narrative. 

As  we  have  previously  recorded,  Mr.  Wetherill,  upon  leaving  tha 
office  of  Lonl  Lyons,  armc^  with  the  "general  pass,"  of  MeClellan, 
was  not  long  in  placing  the  historic  river  Potomac  behind  him,  nor 
was  he  much  longer  in  placing  the  outer  Union  picket  line  in  the 
same  position.  It  must  not  be  supposed  for  an  instant,  however, 
that  the  ta.«k  before  him  was  an  ea^sy  one.  It  was,  on  the  contrary, 
one  requiring  the  most  extreme  caution  and  nerve;  for,  though  hia 
powers  were  so  much  stronger  than  those  possessed  by  his  terrible 
ward,  still  he  might,  if  not  cautious,  find  himself  taken  by  the  lattec 


•i  MART   MURDOCK   AMOXQ   miKXDS. 

at  a  disadvantage,  and  in  that  case,  he  was  perfectl j  aware  that  hia 
doom,  at  least  on  earth,  was  sealed.  He  therefore  halted  at  Matilda- 
ville,  at  which  place  we  shall  leave  him  for  awhile,  and  once  mors 
return  to  the  beautiful  demon,  Mary  Murdock,  and  the  two  spiea, 
whose  passage  through  the  Union  lines  she  had  rendered  so  compar- 
atively easy. 


*•♦ 


CHAPTER       VI. 

THE  DEATH  SLUMBER. 

Mart  Murdock,  upon  returning  to  the  farm-house  at  which  she 
had  purchased  the  three  sheets  wherewith  to  disguise  herself  and 
companions  while  approaching  the  Union  picket  line,  immediately 
retired  to  a  chamber  that  the  farmer's  wife  had,  according  to  her 
request,  made  ready  for  her. 

The  proprietor  of  this  house  was  a  most  bitter  secessionist,  and 
▼as,  at  the  time  of  which  W3  write,  away  at  Richmonl,  attending  to 
8ome  flour  contracts  for  the  Rebel  government.  His  family  were  as 
firmly  attached  to  the  ^o-called  Confederacy  as  he  was,  and  conse- 
quently our  beautiful  demon  was  treated  with  the  utmost  considera- 
tion. 

Upon  reaching  her  room,  Mary  Murdock  cast  herself  upon  the 
soft,  downy  couch  tliat  invite  I  her  to  repose,  and  scarcely  had  her 
long,  soft  tresses  spread  themselves  upon  the  snowy  pillow,  than  he 
eyelids  closed  over  her  blue  orbs,  and  she  slept!  Wbat  a  picture  of. 
ravishing  beauty  and  innocent  purity  did  she  present  to  the  casual 
eye.  Her  face,  oval  in  form,  and  like  the  summer  blush  of  day- 
dawn,  in  its  mingling  white  and  carmine;  her  long  eyelashes 
poetically  fringing  their  lids;  her  delicately  penciled  brows  break- 
ing, with  a  strange  charm,  the  sweep  of  marble  forehead ;  and  her 
Bweetly  appearing  lips  gently  parted,  as  though  magnanimously 
just  to  the  pearly  teeth  within.  One  hand  rested  carelessly  by  her 
side,  while  the  other, — the  one  that  had  so  shortly  before  guided  the 
deadly  shaft  to  the  Union  soldier's  life,— lay  softly,  like  a  snow  flake, 
above  the  heart  that  regularly  pulsed  her  half-discovered  bosom. 

The  lovely  sleeper,  in  form  an  angel,  in  soul  a  demon,  had  not 
■lumbered  a  minute  ere,  her  breathing  became  visibly  less  strong; 


Il  stranok  slumbsb.  65 

and,  before  tho  second  minute  had  passed,  the  most  delicate  testa 
could  have  shown  no  life  in  her.  Ker  limbs  were  rigid  as  hewa 
marble,  and  her  heart  as  still  as  Doath's  potent  touch  could  ever 
make  it. 

Previous  to  retiring,  she  had,  with  much  emphasis,  stated  to  her 
hostess,  that,  on  no  account  whatever,  did  she  wish  to  be  disturbed 
until  noon  of  the  succeeding  day.  And,  until  within  half  an  hour  of 
the  time  named,  did  slie  remain  in  the  inanimate  state  we  have 
described.  At  this  hour,  however,  she  soemed  gradually  to  resusci- 
tate, though  still  remaining  asleep.  Iler  life  came  back  much  more 
gradually  than  it  had  deserted  her.  It  returned  without  sudden 
shock,  and  set  her  physical  forces  in  motion,  just  as  the  skillfully 
ruled  steam  of  the  engineer  puts  his  shafts  and  pulleys  in  motion, 
slowly  and  in  regular  order. 

The  moment  her  vitality  seemed  to  be  fully  restored  to  its  original 
strength,  Mary  Murdock  suddenly  awoke,  and  rose  from  her  couch 
without  an  instant's  delay  ;  not  with  the  heavy  languor  of  a  persoa 
who  has  been  profoundly  slumbering  for  a  long  time,  but  with  the 
restless  vigor  of  some  one  who,  having  been  absent  awhile,  steps 
quickly  back  in  search  of  something. 

"  Vain  egotist !"  she  muttered,  as  she  arose ;  "  he  imagines  himself 
my  master,  my  superior  !  but  a  higher  power  guides  us  both,  and  ho 
id,  as  well  as  I,  a  mere  puppet  of  that  Being  whose  plans  angels,  men, 
and  demons  alike  are  forced  to  accomplish.  True  they  say  I  am 
doomed  to  pass  from  earth  by  his  hand ;  but  if  I  am,  I  will  not  go 
alone.  And  until  I  do  go,  my  pleasure  shall  be  unalloyed  by  deeds 
of  goodness  or  mercy." 

While  speaking,  Mary  Murdock  stepped  to  where  she  had  laid 
down  the  muslin  case  containing  the  weapon  with  which  she  had 
shed  the  blood  of  private  James  Hallowell.  Taking  from  it  the 
arrow  whose  point  and  blade  were  deeply  ensanguined,  she  con- 
tinued : 

"Shot,  on  picket  duty!  ha!  ha!  Well  done,  faithful  shaft,  your 
flight  has  carried  sorrow  and  want  to  one  household,  and  will  yet  do 
the  same  to  thousands  of  other  households,  South  well  as  North. 
Your  keen  point  has  breached  the  bank  that  hedged  in  the  Union, 
and  has  made  a  way  for  Treason's  flood  to  rush  through,  and 
Treason  should  make  the  most  of  it  ere  the  ebb  comes  !" 

At  this  moment  a  daughter  of  her  hostess  knocked  at  the  chamber 
door  very  gently,  and  called  out,  in  tones  equally  gentle  : 

"Miss  Murdoekl" 

"  I  have  risen,  my  dear,  and  will  come  down  in  a  moment  or  two,* 


4K  THE    FARUBR's  WIFB    DISCOVERED. 

answered  the  fair  guest,  still   holding  the  blood-stained  arrow  in  her 
liand,  but  not  moving  a  step  toward  the  door. 

"  Mother  will  have  dinner  on  the  table,  then,  by  the  time  you  get 
down," 

With  this  rejoinder,  the  farmer's  daughter  tripped  lightly  away 
down  stairs. 

Meanwhile,  Mary  Murdock  hastily  cleaned  the  arrow,  and  re- 
turned it  to  the  muslin  case.  This  done,  she  descended  to  the  dinner- 
room,  where  Mrs.  Tibbett,  her  hostess,  was  busily  engaged,  as-Viated 
by  her  daughter,  in  setting  upon  the  board  the  various  dishes  com- 
posing a  good,  substantial  form- house  meal. 

With  that  graceful  ease  of  manner  which  belongs  only  to  these  of 
the  most  refined  class  of  society,  Mrs.  Tibbett's  lovely  visitor  seated 
herself  at  the  table,  and  partook  sparingly  of  the  fare  which  was  set 
before  her  in  such  abundance.  While  thus  engaged,  she  kept  up  a 
continual  and  varied  conversation,  so  pleasing  to  Mrs.  Tibbett  and 
her  children,  that  they  were  delighted  with  her. 

Muibh  in  this  manner  Mary  Murdock  passed  away  three  days, 
never  during  the  time  mentioned,  however,  going  oulaide  of  the 
farm-house ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  remaining  alone  in  her  own  room 
for  many  hours  together.  How  she  engaged  herself  while  thus 
alone,  Mrs.  Tibbett — who  was  endowed  by  Nature  with  at  lea** 
double  the  amount  of  curiosity  generally  allotted  to  women — becanae 
very  anxious  to  ascertain.  She,  therefore,  determine*^  to  conceal 
herself  in  her  guest's  chamber,  and  watch  her.  With  this,  as  she 
considered  it,  innocent  object,  she  took  advantage  of  an  opportunity 
that  offered  just  after  dinner,  to  slip  into  Miss  Mundock's  room. 
There  she  ensconced  herself  within  a  large,  old-fashioned  clothes- 
press,  and  had  just  begun  to  deem  herself  wonderfully  sharp,  when  the 
idoor  of  her  asylum  was  suddenly  thrown  open.  As  this  was  done, 
Mrs.  Tibbett  was  confronted  by  Mary  Murdock,  who,  with  one  of 
her  peculiar,  fiendish  looks,  pointed  silently  to  the  doorway  through 
which  her  hostess  had  entered  the  chamber.  Mrs.  Tibbett,  nearly 
terrified  into  spasms  by  that  terribly  malignant  countenance,  obeyed 
instantly  and  mechanically.  No  one  witnessed  the  afiair ;  and  the 
farmer's  wife,  burying  her  chagrin  with  her  defeated  curiosity,  re- 
Bolved,  wisely  enough,  to  say  nothing  about  what  .had  occurred. 

On  the  night  of  the  third  day,  Mary  Murdock  left  the  farm-house 
at  rather  a  late  hour,  and  took  her  way  across  the  co'mtry  to  a  spot 
close  to  where  she  had  murdered  the  Union  soldier,  James  HallowelL 
With  her  she  carried  the  muslin  case  that  had  so  excited  the  wonder 
of  the  two  Rebel  spies,  and,  upon  coming  within  reach  of  the  Federal 


BIX   MORE    VICTIMS.  67 

'^w'.ket  line,  she  undid  it,  and  took  therefrom  the  fatal  white  bow, 
A  few  inoraents  sudicod  for  her  to  fit  the  string  and  choose  an 
arrow,  and  then,  half  whispering  one  of  her  wild  incantations,  the 
gtartling  creature  hurried  forward  to  her  work  of  blood.  Soon,  in 
the  grayish  light  of  the  night,  she  saw  a  Union  soldier  faithfully  per- 
forming his  duty  of  guarding  the  approaches  to  the  army,  while  here 
and  there,  on  either  side  of  him,  she  could  just  distinguish  the 
moving  shadows  of  his  trusty  comrades,  aud  the  dim,  momentary 
glittering  of  their  bayonets. 

In  a  moment  more,  the  demon  was  aroused  within  her,  and  her 
eyes  began  to  burn  with  hellish  fire  as,  muttering  sorrw  cabalistic 
formulae,  she  hastily  but  noiselessly  neared  the  doomed  man  she  had 
first  seen.  She  carried  three  arrows,  the  last  of  which  she  sent  on  its 
errand  of  murder  almost  before  its  fellow-shafts  had  ceased  to  quiver 
in  the  breasts  of  two  Union  pickets.  With  a  ruthless  delight,  the 
horrible  being  bounded  forward  and  plucked  the  blood-stained  shafts 
from  her  victims,  and  sent  each  on  its  second  flight  ere  she  stayed 
her  hand. 

In  front  of,  and  some  fifty  yards  distant  from,  the  positions  that 
iTad  been  held  by  the  murdered  pickets,  was  a  deep  gully,  or  rather 
fls.sure  in  the  ground,  whose  sides  were  thickly  grown  with  bushes 
and  dwarfed  trees.  There  was  neither  entrance  nor  exit  to  this 
fissure,  and  its  depth  even  the  most  adventurous  never  settled.  The 
more  superstitious  inhabitants  of  that  region  often  declared  that, 
many  years  ago,  smoke,  and  even  flames,  had  been  seen  to  issue  from 
it,  while  deep  rumblings  were  often  heard  far  down  between  its 
rugged  walls. 

This  singular  and  mysterious  gulf  offered  a  fitting  casket  in  which 
the  darkest  deeds  of  blood  could  be  forever  hidden  from  the  world, 
and  from  some  motive  or  other,  Mary  Murdoek  suddenly  resolved  to 
cast  the  bodies  of  her  victims  into  its  yawning  jaws.  With  a 
strength  and  ease  that  no  physical  frame  of  three  times  her  size 
could  boast,  this  girl  demon  seized  the  bodies,  one  after  another, 
hurried  them  to  the  edge  of  the  abyss,  and  tumbled  them,  muskets 
and  all,  down,  down,  far  down,  until  the  faint,  dull  sounds  of  their 
falling  failed  to  reach  the  ear. 

"Missing!  Deserted  I  ha!  that  will  add  a  pang  or  two  to  some 
one's  sorrow  r 

These  words  came  gloatingly  from  between  the  lips  of  the  beauti- 
ful murderess,  as  she  turned  away  from  the  fissure  after  hurling 
down  the  last  of  the  six  bodies. 

It  so  happened  that  four  of  the  six  dead  soldiers  had,  just  befbra 


1SS  THE  SPIES  AND  TnSlR   DEMON    TRIEND. 

beinf"  detailed  for  picket  dutj,  come  out  of  punishment  for  some 
offence  of  which  they  had  asseverated  their  inno<^!ence.  When, 
therefore,  the  officer  in  charge  of  tlie  relief,  who  chanced  also  to  bo 
aware  of  the  facts,  found  their  posts  vacant,  and  no  signs  of  their 
bodies  or  arms  about,  he  immediately  concluded  that  they  had  in 
anger  deserted  to  the  enemy,  after  persuading  their  two  comrades  to 
join  them  in  their  perfidy.  Deep  and  strong  were  the  curses  uttered 
against  the  absent  soldiers  by  their  incensed  comrades ;  and  an  entry 
was  made  on  the  roll  opposite  each  of  their  names,  "  Deserted  to  the 
JRehels"  In  due  time,  this  news  reached  their  homes  and  families, 
and  overwhelmed  their  relations  and  friends  with  shame  and  sorrow. 

One  patriotic  old  mother,  who  had  sent  her.  son,  the  only  prop  of 
her  declining  years,  to  battle  for  the  country  she  loved,  was  stricken 
to  her  death-bed  by  the  news  of  his  defection.  But,  as  she  was  about 
to  expire,  some  good  angel  of  God  plucked  the  rankling  thorn  from 
her  heart,  and  she  cried  out,  with  the  last  breath  of  her  earthly  life : 

"  Thank  God,  my  George  didu't  desert  I" 

The  girl  demon,  whose  blood-guilty  hands  had  wrought  all  this 
sorrow,  did  not  seek  to  pass  through  the  second  gap  that,  with  her 
Strang,  weapon,  she  had  made  in  the  line  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac ;  but  she  quietly  remained  near  the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  await- 
ing the  coming  of  the  two  rebel  spies.  How  she  became  aware  of 
the  precise  time  at  which  the  latter  were  to  arrive  at  the  designated 
spot,  was  certainly  through  no  human  agency;  for,  since  their  de- 
parture for  Washington,  she  had  held  no  communication  with  any 
one  save  Mrs.  Tibbett  and  her  family.  Yet,  with  such  marvellous 
correctness  had  she  marked  the  time  of  their  arrival  that  not  more 
than  twenty  minutes  elapsed  after  the  completion  of  her  barbarous 
deed,  ere  the  spies  came  cautiously,  like  spectres,  down  the  road. 

As  they  approached  close  to  where  she  stood,  she  stepped  out  into 
their  way  so  abruptly  as  to  cause  both  to  start  back  and  draw  their 
revolvers. 

Of  this  precautionary,  and,  to  her,  apparently  perilous  act,  she 
took  not  the  slightest  notice,  but  said : 

"  Delay  not,  but  hasten  to  Richmond  with  the  fruits  you  have 
gathered.     I  will  follow  you  immediately." 

On  the  instant  her  companions  recognized  their  singular  friend, 
and  one  of  them  whispered,  in  an  anxious,  warning  tone: 

"  llist  I  Miss  Murdock  ;  we  must  be  close  to  the  last  line." 

"Did  I  not  tell  you,"  replied  she,  "when  I  parted  from  you,  that  I 
would  await  your  arrival  here,  and  take  away  all  peril  from  you  in 
repassing  the  Union  line?     And  I  have  done  so/'  she  continiied, 


MORS    MYSTERY,  W 

answering  her  own  question,  "  bj  slaying  six  men  ;  and,  until  guard 
ia  again  mounted,  you  are  as  safe  here  as  though  you  were  in  Kich- 
mond.     But  I  must  be  gone." 

With  these  words  Mary  Murdock  abruptly  plunged  away  into  a 
clump  of  woodland  close  at  hand,  and  wus  quiekly  lost  to  view. 

The  two  rebel  spies,  as  may  readily  be  supposed,  were  meu  of  no 
high  standard  of  moral  character ;  yet  they  seemed  half  shocked  to 
hear  a  lovely  young  female  speak  so  frigidly  concerning  six  delibe- 
rate murders  committed,  within  the  last  hour,  by  herself.  But  each, 
within  his  own  breast,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  she  was  a  murder- 
ous raonomaniac,  and  tolerable  only  on  account  of  the  assistance  sho 
was  renderin<]f,  and  raic'ht  render,  to  the  cause  of  the  R'bellion. 

As  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  spies  to  reach  a  train  bound  to 
Richmond  until  the  next  afternoon,  thoy  concluded  to  remain,  in  the 
meantime,  at  the  farm-house  of  Mr.  Tibbett,  They  saw  no  more,  how- 
ever, of  their  singular  companion,  until  they  reached  Orange  Court 
House.  Here  she  once  more  joined  them  ;  but  how  she  had  got  there 
they  could  not  tell ;  for  they  themselve.-j  had  taken  the  first  train,  and 
had  not  been  delayed  on  the  road.  They  were  certain,  too,  that  she 
had  not  been  aboard  previously,  as,  for  particular  reasons,  they  had 
passed  several  times  through  each  car.  There  was,  therefore,  but 
one  conclusion,  and  that  a  seemingly  impossible  one,  to  which  they 
could  come, — that  she  had  set  out  on  foot,  or  by  some  carriage  coa- 
veyance,  and  beaten  the  train. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    DIAJIOND    MYSTERY   CLRARKD. 

The  beautiful  demon,  on  entering  the  car  in  which  were  the  two 
rebel  spies,  seated  herself,  with  a  pleasant  remark,  between  them. 
In  her  hand  she  carried  the  muslin  case  from  which  they  had  seen 
her  draw  the  deadly  bow  and  arrow  that  had  rendered  them  such 
good  assistance.  Now  each  of  them  noticed  at  the  same  instant  that, 
besides  its  regular  contents,  the  case  or  bag  concealed  some  living 
creature. 

As  they  glanced  at  it,  however,  Mary  Murdock  quickly  slid  her 
hand  downward  until  it  grasped  the  animal,  and,  like  a  flash  of 


70  SOMETHING   CLEARED. 

Fight,  all  motion  ceased.  An  undefined,  half  vague  dread  took  po«- 
eessionof  her  two  companions  at  this  moment,  and  both  involuntiirily 
drew  themselves  somewhat  from  her. 

Between  the  point  at  which  she  entered  the  cars  and  Richmond, 
Mary  Murdock  was  several  times  lost  sight  of  by  her  co-laborers  in 
the  Rebellion's  cause.  Upon  reaching  the  Capital  of  the  Confederacy, 
however,  they  found  that  she  intended  to  accompany  them  to  see  Jeff. 
Davis.  This  they  relished  not  at  all,  for  several  reasons,  the  strongest 
of  which  was  that  they  disliked  to  be  obliged  to  acknowledge  the 
assistance  that  had  been  rendered  to  them  by  the  fair  but  fearful 
girl.  But  rid  themselves  of  her  they  could  not  by  any  of  the  indirect 
means  they  UBftd ;  and  their  knowledge  of  the  light  in  which  their 
master,  Davis,  regarded  her,  prevented  them  from  adopting  direct 
means.  So,  with  Fear  and  Envy  striving  for  the  ascendancy  in  their 
breasts,  they  accompanied  her,  or,  rather,  she  accompanied  them,  into 
the  presence  of  tke  rebel  President,  who  was  consuming  with  anxiety 
to  hear  a  report  of  their  enterprise. 

"  Let  me  have  flrst,"  said  Davis,  addressing  one  of  the  spies.  **  a 
brief  outline  account  of  your  adventure  after  you  left  me.  You 
must  have  had  more  tffan  ordinary  good  fortune  or  assistance  to 
have  obtained  such  valuable  documents  as  these." 

Davis,  as  he  apojce,  glanced  at  the  fair  fiend,  and  the  spy,  noting 
the  act,  determined  at  once  to  give  Mary  Murdock  her  due  credit,  as 
a  matter  of  policy. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Davis,"  he  therefore  replied,  "  we  owe  our  whole  suc- 
cess to  Miss  Murdock ;  for,  without  her  aid,  I  fear  we  would  have 
been  unable  to  get  through  the  Union  picket  line.  A  well-directed 
arrow  from  her  bow  closed  the  eyes  of  a  Yankee  soldier  iu  death ; 
and  so  we  passed." 

"A  bow  and  arrow  !"  exclaimed  Davis.  "A  most  capital  idea  ;  no 
noise,  and  consequently  no  alarm.  But,"  continued  he,  "  that  was 
only  the  first  peril  overcome." 

"Well,  Mr.  Davis,"  continued  the  spy,  "from  that  moment  out  we 
enjoyed  the  most  remarkable  good  fortune.  Whenever  we  came  near  a 
sentinel,  he  suddenly  seemed  to  become  half  stupefied  ;  and  all  the  way 
to  Washington,  even  across  the  bridge,  we  were  never  once  challenged, 
though,  on  some  occasions,  we  passed  as  close  to  the  guard  as  we  are 
to  you  now.  In  Washington,  to  have  seen  us,  you  would  have  thought 
that  we  were  regularly  recognized  Yankee  officials,  until,  one  day,  as 
I  was  sitting  in  McClellan's  headquarters,  overhauling  some  of  his 
most  precious  documents,  I  felt  a  kind  of  shock  come  over  me,  a 
thock  which  resembled  that  you  receive  from  an  electrioal  battery. 


TUR   DOUBLJC  TRAITOR.  71 

It  was  a  sudden  and  deadly  fear  of  discovery.  I  had  the  last  paper 
out  of  the  drawer,  and  had  copied  nearly  all  of  it  iu  short  hand,  at 
the  moment  I  experienced  this  strange  feeling.  In  my  trepidation  I 
crammed  the  document,  together  with  another,  into  the  drawer  from 
which  I  had  taken  it,  and  with  such  ha.ste  as  to  crush  the  paper,  and 
breiik  out  of  its  setting  a  valuable  diamond.  The  precious  stone  fell, 
I  think,  among  the  papers  in  the  drawer,  but  I  did  not  wait  to  search 
for  it;  the  peril  was  too  imminent;  but,  as  I  hurried  from  the 
•ftpartraent,  I  consoled' myself  with  the  fact  that  the  Yankee  General 
had  bought  the  gem  at  a  higher  price  than  he  would  relish. 

*'  Both  of  us  immediately  set  out  for  Kichmond  with  the  fruits  of 
our  adventure,  and  reached  the  last  Union  line  in  the  middle  of  the 
night.  Ilere  we  feared  we  should  meet  with  trouble  ;  but  our  guar- 
dian angel,  Miss  Murdock,  had  again  cleared  our  path,  by  slaying  six 
Yankee  pickets,  with  her  own  hand."  ^' 

"  I  thank  you,  in  the  name  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  Miss 
Murdock,"  exclaimed  the  rebel  President,  turning  to  our  heroine 
who,  during  the  whole  conversation,  had  done  naught  but  listen. 

"  No  thanks.  President  Davis,"  replied  she,  in  a  strange  tone, — 
"such  is  my  mission.  But  I  would  speak  a  few  words  with  you  pri- 
vately," continued  she,  stepping  to  the  rebel  President,  who  instantly 
inclined  his  head  forward,  that  she  might  whisper  in  his  ear. 

As  the  beautiful  but  terrible  girl  communicated  what  she  had  to 
say  to  Davis,  he  glanced  now  and  then  at  one  of  the  S|)ies  with  a  kind 
of  suspicious  look ;  and  when  his  fair  companion  had  finished,  he 
turned  to  the  other  two,  and  said : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  will  retain  these  valuable  documents  myself,  instead 
of  sending  you  with  them  to  either  of  the  Departments.  Meet  me 
here  in  the  morning,  at  ten  o'clock." 

Upon  receiving  this  intimation  that  the  rebel  President  wished  to 
be  alone,  the  spies  immediately  arose,  and  bade  him  and  Miss  Mur- 
dock good  evening.  That  each  of  these  men  had  been  deeply  mys- 
tilied  by  the  powers  exhibited  by  Mary  Murdock,  and  deeply 
enamored  of  her  beauty,  were  undeniable  ;  but,  until  the  present 
moment,  neither  of  them  had  deemed  her  more  than  an  extraordinary 
girl.  Now,  however,  they  began  to  appreciate  her  more  correctly, 
and  a  strange  awe  took  possession  of  them  in  consequence. 

When  they  had  gone,  Davis  said  to  his  fair  companion: 

"Surely,  Miss  Murdock,  is  that  man  Wilson  such  a  double  traitor 
as  that  ?" 

"He  is.  President  Davis,"  replied  Mary.  "He  intends  to  work 
himself  into  your  confidence  by  this  action,  and  when  he  ascertains  the 


78  DAVI3    MATCHED   0:?CE   MORK, 

plans  you  maj  Adopt  for  the  defeat  of  the  Federal  movements,  ho 
will  instantly  deaert  you,  carry  all  the  information  he  can  obtain  to 
the  Union  Government,  sell  it  at  a  high  price,  and  remain  thereafter 
in  affluence  at  the  North." 

"It  would  certainly  be  advisable  for  him  to  do  so  after  that," 
remarked  the  rebel  President,  with  compressed  lips.  "But,"  con- 
tinued he,  "I  will  secure  him  before  morning  dawns." 

At  this  moment  an  aid  entered  the  apartment,  and  stood  awaiting 
the  leisure  of  Davis,  who,  excusing  himself  to  the  girl  demon,  stepped 
to  his  aid.     The  latter  said  to  him,  in  a  low  tone : 

"Your  Excellency,  the  gentlemen  are  awaiting  you  in  your  prir 
Yate  parlor." 

"All,  yes;  well,  tell  them  I  will  join  them  in  a  few  moments." 

Again  Davis  was  alone  with  Mary  Murdock. 

"Miss  Murdook,"  said  he  to  her,  "  I  am  behind  the  hour  that  I  set 
to  meet  some  gentlemen,  on  whose  experience  ani  judgment  I  have 
such  dependence  tiiat  I  advise  with  them  on  all  matters  of  public 
importance." 

The  speaker  paused,  in  order  to  give  the  girl  demon  an  opportu- 
nity to  excuse  herself  and  withdraw.  But,  so  far  from  having  hia 
eifpectations  fulfilled,  Davis  was  appalled  by  the  actual  result  of  hia 
words.  Fixing  upon  him  her  fiercely  burning  eyes,  the  terrible 
creature  exclaimed : 

"Mast  I  again  give  you  an  example  of  my  power  to  command 
your  confidence.  President  Davis  ?  Without  my  aid  at  every  step  of 
the  way,  your  two  .spies,  who  have  just  quitted  our  presence,  could 
never  have  reached  Washington ;  and  even  had  they  done  so,  they 
could  not  have  obtained  those  very  documents  you  now  hold  in  your 
hand.  I  am  fully  aware  of  the  object  of  the  meetings  you  hold  with 
these  gentlemen  you  refer  to.  They,  like  yourself,  are  traitors.  You 
and  they  love  to  plot  evil.  My  pleasure  it  has  been,  and  still  shall 
be,  to  assist  you.  Henceforward  let  there  bo  no  lack  of  confidence 
in  me  on  your  part.  Go,  and,  at  the  proper  moment,  I  will  come 
into  the  midst  of  your  conclave.  No  excuse, — no  reply,"  continued 
the  fearful  speaker,  as  Davis  was  about  to  say  something;  "do  as  I 
wish." 

With  these  words,  came  an  imperious  wave  of  Mary  Murdock's 
hand,  that  seemed  to  be  more  potent  than  a  sceptre;  for,  as  though 
incapable  of  resistance,  the  rebel  President  silently  left  the  apart- 
ment. 

Striding  up  the  staircase,  he  quickly  reached  a  moderate-sized 
room,  in  which  were  assembled  some  five  or  six  men.     Two  of  these 


BWGHT  HOPES   FOR   TREASON'.  71 

were  well  known,  not  only  in  the  South,  but  aho  in  the  North,  as 
ambitious  politicians,  whoso  principles  and  character  were  of  the 
fiercest  Btainp.  The  others  were  men  of  far  deeper  mind  and  calibre, 
but  of  equally  unhealthy  moral  parts.  P^paulets  and  spurs,  that 
adorned  two  of  the  group,  showed  that  the  rebel  military  power  was 
represented,  as  well  as  the  civil. 

"Why,  brother  Davis  1'  exclaimed  several  voices  at  once,  as  the 
traitor  President  entered  the  room  ;  "you  are  excessively  pale  ;  what 
has  oceured  ?  Has  our  army  at  Manassas  been  overthrown  or  cap- 
tured ?" 

"  So  flir  from  that,  gentlemen,  all  goes  swimmingly  with  the  Con- 
federacy,"  replied  Davis,  smiling  graciously,  and  Buddeuly  assuming 
a  cheerfulness  he  felt  not. 

"  Well,  thank  Ileaven  for  that,"  answered  one  of  the  group. 
**But  pray  be  seated,  your  Excellency,"  added  the  speaker,  pushing 
a  chair  toward  Davis,  who,  seating  himself,  placed  the  documents  ho 
carried  in  his  hand,  upon  the  table  round  which  his  advir-ers  sat. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "read  these  ;  they  will  please  you  beyond 
a  doubt,  nud.  prove  to  you  that  our  infant  Confederacy  is  befriended 
by  powerful  allies."  • 

One  after  another  the  papers  were  perused  and  handed  round  until 
all  had  acquainted  themselves  with  their  contents. 

"That  is  glorious!"  exclaimed  one  of  the  group,  "that  is  glorious  I 
Now  is  the  time  for  an  advance.  A  well  executed  flank  movement 
will  give  us  Washington  itself,  and  holding  that  we  hold  the  balance 
of  power." 

"  I  disagree  with  you,  General,"  said  Davis  in  a  very  positive 
manner,  "  and  I  will  explain,  why.  Suppose  you  capture  Washing- 
ton, with  every  gun  and  man  in  it.  You  have  won,  it  is  true,  a 
B]3lendid  victory  for  the  South  ;  but  you  have  at  the  same  moment 
infuriated  the  whole  North  to  madness,  and,  rising  in  its  tremendous 
power,  it  would  crush  us  back  with  its  mere  bulk.' 

Each  added  his  opinion,  and  the  rebel  President  finally  found 
himself  opposed  to  a  majority.  For  the  last  time  he  was  about  to 
once  more  defend  the  position  he  had  taken,  when  suddenly  all 
present,  except  himself,  were  astonished  at  beholding  a  young  and 
lovely  female  enter  the  apartment,  bearing  in  her  hand  a  long 
muslin  case. 


74  TETB   REBEL   CONCLAYB.    • 


CHAPTER       VIII. 

THE    REBEL   CONCLATB. 

As  Mary  Murdock  stepped  forward  into  the  room  where'  the 
conspirators  sat,  they  glanced  one  at  another,  and  then  at  Da  via, 
who,  instead  of  saying  what  he  intended  at  the  moment  of  the 
interruption,  rose  to  his  feet,  and  introduced  the  new  comer  in  the 
following  language : 

"  Gentlemen,  allow  me  to  present  to  you  Miss  Mary  Murdock,  the 
young  lady  to  whom  the  two  spies  I  sent  to  Washington,  and 
consequently  ourselves,  are  indebted  for  the  most  valuable  informa- 
tion that  I  have  just  communicated  to  you." 

The  conspirators  immediately  rose,  bowed  to  the  beautiful 
intruder,  and  re-seated  themselves. 

"Miss  Murdock,"  continued  the  rebel  President,  " is  a  true  and 
staunch  friend  of  our  Confederacy,  gentlemen  ;  and,  being  gifted  with 
powers  not  vouchsafed  to  ordinary  mortals,  is  capable  of  rendering 
us  the  most  unexpected  and  signal  service.  Wherefore  are  you 
here,  Miss  Murdock?" 

These  last  words  were  spoken  in  a  kindly  tone,  to  the  girl  demon, 
who,  advancing  a  step  or  two  further  toward  the  table  at  which  the 
traitors  were  sitting,  replied  : 

"  I  am  here  that  I  may  give  my  voice  in  your  council.  You  are 
divnded  in  opinion ;  division  leads  to  weakness ;  weakness  leads  to 
destruction." 

Several  countenances  exhibited  signs  of  impatience  at  this  moraent» 
that  a  girl  should  speak  thus  to  men  of  age  and  long  experience ;  but, 
altogether  unheedful  thereof,  Mary  Murdock  continued  : 

"  You  would  have  your  rebellion  crowned  with  success;  you  must, 
therefore,  keep  always  in  view  two  objects — the  firm  uniting  of  the 
South  and  the  division  of  the  North.  For  the  latter,  there  is  but 
one  way  to  accomplish  it,  and  that  is  thus :" 

With  these  words,  the  startling,  terrible  girl  whirled  from  beneath 
a  mantle  she  wore  a  huge  living  serpent  of  the  copperhead  speciea^ 
and  flung  it,  contorted  and  fiercely  hissing,  upon  the  table.  Th« 
effect  was  electrical.  Some  of  the  traitorous  conspirators  started  to 
their  feet,  some  leaped  convulsively  back,  and  others  sat  as  thongh 
helpless   from   fear.    The    next  moment,   Mary   Murdock   dpraug 


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A   STARTLING    INCIDENT.  85 

forward,  and  seizing  the  serpent,  caused  it  to,beoomc  pacified  ;  and 
the  reptile  slowly  began  to  move  about  the  table,  never  seeking  to 
get  off  the  latter,  and  yet  ever  and  anon  rearing  its  loathsome  head 
and  displaying  its   fearful  fangs. 

"  There  is  your  success !"  exclaimed  the  girl  demon,  extended  her 
arm  and  pointing  to  the  snake  ;  "  divide  the  North  by  the  subtility 
and  venom  of  the  serpent.  The  serpent,  the  serpent  is  your  true  ally, 
your  most  potent  friend.  Seek  not  to  cope  even-handed,  strength 
for  strength,  with  the  North  or  you  are  defeated  already.  I  am 
your  friend,  the  friend  of  your  wicked  cause,  because  it  works  evil 
in  the  land.  It  carries  bitter  sorrow  and  suffering  to  thousands  of 
once  happy  homes ;  therefore  I  love  it.  For  a  limited  time  I  can 
serve  it  well,  and  I  will  do  so.  I  have  already  rendered*  it  some 
little  service  as  an  earnest  of  the  future.  Ere  morning  I  will  render 
it  another.     Remember  the  serpent  is  your — our  best  friend  !" 

As  she  thus  spoke,  Mary  Murdock  grasped  the  reptile  she  had 
flung  upon  the  table,  and  concealing  it  again  beneath  her  mantle,  she 
bade  the  assembled  conclave  adieu,  and  left  them,  with  the  exception 
of  Davis  himself,  almost  stupefied  with  amazement.  Inquiring 
glances  were  exchanged  as  the  startling  intruder  withdrew,  and  all 
seemed  at  a  loss  what  to  think  or  say. 

At  this  juncture,  Davis  explained  to  his  companions  that  Miss 
Murdock  was  one  of  those  marvellous  phenomena  that  now  and  then 
astonish  mankind  with  their  supernatural  powers  and  attributes. 
He  explained  in  what  manner  she  had  served  the  cause  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, and  predicted  that  she  would  ere  long  render  the  Confederacy 
as  much  material  aid  as  a  body  of  a  hundred  thousand  well  armed 
troops.  The  traitors  were  more  astonished  than  ever ;  in  fact  so 
deep  was  the  impression  that  the  action  and  personal  appearance  of 
Mary  Murdock  had  made  upon  them,  that,  although  they  had  met 
for  the  purpose  of  consulting  on  most  important  matters,  they  spent 
the  rest  of  the  evening  in  conversation  relative  to  her.  Consequent- 
ly another  meeting  was  necessarily  appointed  for  the  next  day. 

Immediately  upon  parting  from  his  friends,  the  rebel  President 
sent  for  a  confidential  officer,  one  of  those  vile  tools  that  are  always 
to  be  found  about  tyrants,  and  ordered  him  to  arrest  Wilson,  the 
spy,  concerning  whom  Mary  Murdock  had  spoken  to  him.  The 
officer  forthwith  set  out  for  the  residence  of  the  doomed  man,  but 
upon  arriving  there,  ascertained  that  he  had  gone  out  shortly  before 
with  a  young  lady ;  whither  he  had  gone,  or  when  he  would  return, 
no  one  could  tell.  So  the  officer  returned  to  Davis,  who,  upon 
hearing  the  facts,  ordered  him  to  go  back  and  keep  a  strict  watch 
4 


86  THE   DOOMED  SPY, 

upon  the  house,  until  at  least  noon  of  the  next  day.  If  the  spy 
should,  in  the  meantime,  go  out  or  come  in,  he  was  to-  watch  him 
until  night  fell,  when  at  a  favorable  moment,  he  was  to  arrest  him. 

The  officer  promptly  obeyed,  and  taking  up  his  designated  posi- 
tion, faithfully  performed  the  part  that  had  been  assigned  to  him. 
His  diligence,  however,  met  with  no  reward  ;  and  at  noon  he  report- 
ed his  non-success  to  Davis,  who  relieved  him  from  further  attention 
to  the  matter.  This  course  of  the  rebel  President  had  its  explana- 
tion in  the  fact,  that  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  had 
received  a  visit  from  Mary  Murdock.  The  fearful  girl  naively  in- 
formed him  that  having  determined  it  was  better  for  Wilson  to  die, 
she  had  easily  compassed  his  death. 

"  He  is  quiet  enough  now,  President  Davis,"  she  added.  "  You 
need  have  no  further  fear  of  his  treachery.  I  saw  him  die, — he  died 
by  my  hand." 

The  rebel  President,  having  taken  the  advice  of  the  demon  girl, 
did  not  attempt  the  assumption  of  a  horror  that  he  did  not  feel,  at 
the  narration  of  her  deed  of  blood.  On  the  contrary,  he  grasped 
her  hand,  and  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  the  strongest  terms. 

After  some  further  conversation,  Mary  Murdock  remarked : 

"President  Davis,  when  1  first  joined  myself  to  your  cause,  I 
believed  myself  capable  of  rendering  it  service  that,  in  spite  of  the 
tremendous  strength  of  the  North,  would  give  you  speedy  success. 
But,  doubtless,  you  recollect  my  mentioning  the  fact  that  there  was, 
in  Washington,  an  influence  adverse  to  me,  and  more  powerful  than 
mine.  That  influence  I  hoped  to  destroy ;  but  I  have  failed,  and  it 
is  now  seeking  my  overthrow, — my  destruction!  To  it  I  must 
finally  succumb, — how  soon,  how  late,  I  cannot  now  foresee.  Until 
I  do,  however,  my  best  powers  shall  be  used  for  your  benefit.  I  may 
not  pass  the  lines  of  the  Union  army  myself,  but  I  can  open  the  way 
for  others,  and  I  can  also  venture,  though  it  is  a  great  risk,  to  follow 
and  guide  them,  secondarily,  with  my  influence." 

"  I  was  thinking,  a  while  ago,"  said  Davis,  in  reply  to  these  words, 
**  that,  under  all  circumstances,  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  confine 
your  operations  to  the  Union  pickets.  You  run  less  risk,  and,  there- 
fore, I  am  sure  of  your  aid  for  a  longer  time.  That  which  you  have 
already  accomplished  is  worth  more  than  a  large  army  to  me ;  and, 
with  you  to  break  the  picket  lines  of  the  enemy,  I  shall  be  able  so 
to  direct  the  armies  we  have  as  to  defeat  our  Yankee  foes.  So  I 
would  prefer  you  to  adopt  this  plan  of  procedure.  It  would,  in 
time,  so  terrify  the  Union  soldiers  that  they  would  become  utterly 
demoralized,  and  would,  therefore,  render  them  useless  as  pickets. 


A   MYSTERIOUS   FOE.  87 

As  tlie  Mystermis  Picket  Slayer,  Miss  Murdock,  you  could  help  us  to 
win  two  or  three  carapaigus." 

"You  speak  correctly,  President  Davis,"  rejoined  the  girl  demon; 
"and  hereafter,  so  long  as  I  am  permitted  by  that  Power  which 
makes  us  all  subservient  to  His  will,  I  will  confine  my  operations,  as 
you  suggest,  to  the  picket  lines  of  the  Union  army.  It  will  mystify 
them  terribly  ;  and  I  love  mystery !  ha  1  ha  1  If  I  were  vain  of  titles, 
that  would  please  roe  wonderfuU}', — '  The  Mysterious  Picket  Slayer  P''^ 

''I  will  give  you  a  letter  to  General  Lee,  Miss  Murdock,"  said 
Davis,  sitting  down  at  a  desk,  and  taking  up  a  pen. 

"I  do  not  really  need  one.  President  Davis,"  answered  Mary ;  "  but,     ^ 
to  prevent  delay,  I  will  accept  of  one." 

The  letter  was  not  quite  finished,  when  suddenly  the  fair  com- 
panion of  the  rebel  President  started,  and  exclaimed : 

'■Quick!  quick  I  my  enemy, — the  adverse  influence, — is  close  at 
hand  1  '  Quick,  or  I  am  lost !     The  letter ! — give  it  to  me !" 

A  few  hurried  strokes  of  the  pen,  and  Davis  handed  the  letter  to 
Mary  3kIurdock,  who,  seizing  it,  vanished  instantly,  as  though  she  had 
been  a  phantom  or  spirit. 


-»-#-^ 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE   MAGIC   WAND. 


When  Mr.  "Wetherill  halted,  as  we  have  previously  recorded,  at 
Matildaville,  it  was  from  motives  of  prudence  that  he  did  so. 

Here  he  remained  a  day  and  part  of  a  night,  and  then  set  out 
Southward  toward  Richmond.  He  did  not  proceed  further,  how- 
ever, than  Hunter's  Mill,  which  is  situated  on  Difficult  Creek,  a 
short  distance  Northwest  of  Vienna,  on  the  Alexandria  and  Loudon 
Railroad.  Several  hundred  rods  below  the  Mill,  and  on  the  West 
bank  of  the  stream,  there  is  a  romantic  little  gulch  or  grotto.  To 
this  Wetherill  bent  his  steps,  as  though  he  had  been  aware  of  its 
existence  since  childhood,  and,  making  his  way  through  the  mass  of 
tangled  brushwood  that  almost  filled  it,  he  reached  a  small  natural 
basin  of  stone,  into  which  a  clear,  sparkling  rill  trickled  from  above, 
and  from  which,  in  turn,  it  fell  over  into  a  gravelly  bed,  aud  mean- 
dered gently  away  to  the  creek. 


88  THE   MAGIC  WAND. 

The  sun  had  not  fully  risen,  and,  until  it  did,  "Wetherill  remained, 
musing  silently,  seated  upon  a  large,  moss-grown  stone  close  to  the 
spring.  Now  and  then  he  cast  a  glance  upward  to  the  tree-tops,  as 
though  watching  the  gleams  of  daylight,  that  momentarily  increased 
in  brightness,  until,  at  last,  the  highest  boughs  were  bathed  in  the 
living  gold  of  morning. 

At  this  juncture  Wetherill  rose  to  his  feet,  and  drew  from  beneath 
his  coat  a  wand  of  most  peculiar  wood,  about  fifteen  inches  in  length, 
as  thick  in  diamater  as  an  ordinary  walking  cane,  and  curiously 
carved  with  strange  figures  and  devices.  This  wand,  after  uttering 
something  as  though  in  a  soliloquy,  Wetherill  cast  into  the  natural 
stone  basin. 

In  an  instant  it  began  to  circle  round  on  the  surface  of  the  clear, 
limped  water.  Then  it  as  quickly  remained  stationary  for  a  single 
moment,  and  then,  much  in  the  manner  of  the  compass-needle,  it 
swung  back  and  forth  between  Southeast  and  South.  With  a  most 
intense  expression  of  earnestness  on  his  countenance,  Wetherill  bent 
down  close  over  the  stone  basin,  and  eagerly  watched  each  motion, 
no  matter  how  slight,  of  the  wand.  Thus  did  he  occupy  himself  for 
the  space  of  several  minutes,  and  then,  suddenly  snatching  the  wand 
from  the  water,  he  thrust  it  back  in  the  place  from  which  he  had 
taken  it,  uttering,  as  he  did  so,  some  abrupt  expressions,  in  the 
Persian  language. 

Once  more  he  paused  as  though  in  a  deep  reverie,  and  then,  in  the 
manner  of  a  person  who  follows  a  guide,  he  left  the  dell,  with  a  quick 
but  half  uncertain  stride. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  give  any  judgment  on  this  action  of 
Wetherill,  yet  we  say  but  the  simple  truth  in  asserting,  that,  without 
halting,  the  mysterious  and  learned  Englishman  went  directly  to  the 
farm-house  of  Mr.  Tibbett. 

The  action  of  England  toward  the  United  States,  at  the  period  of 
which  we  write,  naturally  led  those  whose  affections  were  with  the 
South  to  look  with  the  most  friendly  feelings  upon  any  one  of 
British  birth.  Consequently  Mr.  Wetherill  had  only  to  announce 
his  nationality  to  the  Tibbctts  to  awaken  their  liveliest  friendship. 
Of  this  he  took  full  advantage,  without  committing  himself  to  any 
untruth,  and  ascertained  much  that  was  valuable  to  him  in  his 
pursuit  of  Mary  Murdock. 

Mrs.  Tibbet  was  particularly  enthusiastic  in  regard  to  the  beauti- 
ful angel  who  had  honored  her  house  with  her  presence,  and  who  had, 
with  so  much  success,  opened  a  way  through  the  Union  line  for  the 
two  rebel  spies  to  reach  Washington.. 


THE    PURSUER   IX    PERIL.  89 

Mr.  "Wetlierill  inquired  tho  exact  date  of  this  occurrence,  aud 
found  it  to  tally  exactly  with  the  date,  even  to  a  minute,  that  he  had 
held  an  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  General  McClellan.  Fur- 
ther inquiry  failed  to  elicit  more  from  Mrs.  Tibbett,  than  that  Mary 
Murdock  had  accompanied  the  two  spies  to  Richmond.  To  Rich- 
mond, tlierefore,  Wcthcrill  proceeded  without  delay,  and  yet  with 
as  much  caution  as  possible.  Long  before  he  reached  the  Rebel 
capital,  however,  he  became  aware,  though  not  through  the  agency 
of  any  human  being,  that  the  girl  demon  had  departed  from  there, 
and  gone  to  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
forminor  the  horrid,  heartless  role  she  had  assumed  in  the  drama  of 
the  Rebellion.  Wetherill  did  not  alter  his  direction,  but  continued 
on  to  Richmond,  where  he  made  good  use  of  his  own  marvellous 
powers  for  the  benefit  of  the  Union  cause. 

Through  the  interposition  of  the  singular  and  terrible  girl,  Mary 
Murdock,  the  Rebel  government  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted 
not  only  with  the  intended  movement  of  tlie  Army  of  the  Potomac 
up  the  Peninsula,  but  also  with  the  minutest  details  of  its  organiza- 
tion, and  its  strength  in  artillery  and  transportation.  The  manner  in 
which  Generals  Banks'  and  McDowell's  columns  were  to  operate, 
likewise  reached  them,  and  this  was  the  true  reason  why  the  famous 
Stonewall  Jackson  was  enabled  to  accomplish  so  much  by  his  see- 
saw strategy  of  alternate  advances  and  retreats. 

After  obtaining  all  the  information  he  thought  necessary  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  object  he  had  in  view,  Wetherill  left  Rich- 
mond, and  set  his  face  toward  Stonewall  Jackson's  army,  fully 
confident  of  capturing  his  fearful  charge,  Mary  Murdock.  It  never 
transpired  how  he  became  aware  of  the  fact,  but  upon  reaching 
Piedmont,  which  lies  in  the  gap  of  Battle-Snake  Mountains,  he  found 
the  girl  demon  close  at  hand.  He  therefore  halted,  and  made  such 
arrangements  as  he  deemed  ample  to  secure  her.  Had  she  been  a 
mere  ordinary  female,  the  difficulty  of  her  capture  would  have  been 
but  slight ;  but  possessed  of  the  powers  that  have  already  been 
described,  she  became  at  once  a  fugitive  hard  to  catch,  and  a  foe 
terrible  to,  encounter.  Add  to  this,  that  it  was  impossible  for  "Weth- 
erill to  surprise  her,  and  the  reader  may  form  some  conception  of 
the  perilous  task  that  the  EnglishmAn  had  undertaken. 

The  first  thing  "Wetherill  did.  upon  his  arrival,  was  to  seek  a 
clear  spring  in  a  spur  of  the"  mountain.  This  he  was  not  long  in 
finding,  and  into  it  he  cast  the  curiously-carved  wand  we  have 
previou.sly  referred  to.  After  one  or  two  quick  oscillations  on  the 
crystal  surface  of  the  water,  the  wand  suddenly  became  stationary. 


90  A  FEARFUL   RACE. 

Then,  just  as  quickly,  the  thicker  end  of  it  sank  about  two  inches, 
leaving  the  point  proportionally  raised  clear  of  the  water. 

At  this  instant  a  deathly  paleness  spread  itself  over  Wetherill's 
features,  and  simultaneously  an  arrow  flashed  past  his  cheek,  and, 
striking  the  rocks  back  of  the  spring,  splintered  into  a  hundred 
fragments,  some  of  which  fell  into  the  water  about  the  wand,  and 
others  into  the  mysterious  Eaglishman's  face. 

With  the  quickness  of  lightning,  "Wetherill  snatched  the  magic 
wand  from  the  spring,  and  wheeling  half  round  on  his  heel, 
extended  it  in  the  direction  in  which  the  shaft  had  come.  As  he 
did  so,  a  wild,  weird  scream  of  disappointment  and  rage,  broke 
shrilly  upon  the  still  air  of  the  mountain,  and  a  moment  later,  the 
light  form  of  Mary  Murdock  bounded  from  a  thicket  a  few  rods 
distant. 

Down  the  ragged  pathway,  through  the  interlacing  bushes,  and 
over  high  stones  and  fallen  trees,  the  girl  demon  flew,  never  once 
stumbling  or  slipping,  and  never  once  looking  behind  her  at  her 
guardian,  who  pursued  her  at  the  top  of  his  speed.  On,  on  they 
sped  in  silence,  but  terrible  determination,  until  at  last  a  little  run  of 
water  that  cascaded  down  ihe  mountain  side,  appeared  in  view. 

As  her  eyes  lit  on  the  silvery,  plashing  brook,  Mary  Murdock  for 
the  first  time  turned  her  head,  and  cast  a  glance  at  "Wetherill.  The 
latter  had  gained  upon  the  fair  fugitive  slightly,  and  was  pressing 
forward  with  renewed  energy,  when  the  mountain  stream,  that  had 
hitherto,  been  hidden  from  his  eyes,  came  in  sight.  At  this  instant 
Mary  Mardock  was  close  on  its  bank^  and  pausing  a  moment,  she 
uttered  an  exulting  scream.  The  sound  had  scarcely  reached 
Wetherill's  ear,  when  the  girl  demon  cleared  the  brook  at  a  single 
bound,  and  as  though  she  had  sprung  down  a  precipice  on  the 
opposite  side,  disappeared  from  view. 

Instantly  Wetherill  ceased  his  pursuit,  and  retraced  his  steps  to 
where  the  race  had  commenced.  From  this  point  he  wended  his 
way,  by  another  path,  down  the  mountain,  to  where  he  had  left  his 
horse,  a  spirited  and  valuable  animal.  It  was  still  on  the  spot  in 
which  he  had  left  it,  but  it  was  dead,  and  already  several  keen-eyed 
vultures  were  circling  above  its  carcass,  in  which  not  a  single  wound 
appeared. 

"Just  as  I  thought,"  muttered  Wetherill,  turning  away,  and 
keeping  on  his  road  down  toward  the  town.  "  But,"  continued  he, 
"she  must  have  gained  new  powers  of  which  I  know  not  I  Strange 
if  I  should  at  last  become  her  victim.  However,  my  fault  it  was 
that  she   became    inducted   into   a   knowledge  of  these    startling 


GENERAL  LEE's  PLANS.  91 

sciences,  and  my  dut]^  it  is  to  society  to  bring  her  into  my  power 
again,  or  to  perish  in  the  effort." 


CHAPTER      X. 

THE    DEMON   GIRL    AGAIN  AT   WORK. 

After  escaping  as  we  have  seen,  from  her  guardian,  on  Battle 
Snake  Mountain,  Mary  Muidock  hastened  with  all  speed  to  Rich- 
mond. Here  she  found  tjjut  Jeff.  Davis  had  gone  to  Lynchburg, 
but  was  expected  hourly  to  return,  as  a  dispatch  had  been  sent  to 
him  by  General  Lee.  She  therefore  awaited  his  coming.  By  this 
time,  General  McClellan  had  pushed  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  up 
the  Peninsula,  from  Williamsburg  to  White  House,  which  was  now 
his  base  of  supplies,  and  General  Lee  began  to  have  considerable 
anxiety  as  to  the  safety  of  Richmond. 

The  rebel  President,  on  receiving  Lee's  dispatch,  came  forthwith 
to  the  Confederate  Capital,  leaving  some  important  afiairs  unsettled 
at  Lynchburg.  Lee  was  waiting  for  him  when  he  reached  his  head- 
quarters, and  immediately  asked  his  approval  of  a  plan  he  submitted 
for  capturing  or  cutting  to  pieces  McClellan's  army. 

"  The  only  difficulty  which  presents  itself,"  said  Lee  to  Davis,  "  is 
that  there  is  peril  of  the  Yankees  becoming  alarmed  too  soon.  But 
even  in  that  case,  I  can  force  McClellan  to  retreat  or  change  base. 
If  he  retreats,  I  can  cut  him  pretty  well  up  before  he  reaches  the 
works  at  Williamsburg;  and  if  he  attempts  to  reach  the  James  River, 
which  Napoleon  himself  would  scarcely  attempt  in  view  of  the  dan- 
ger of  such  a  movement,  I  can  capture  or  annihilate  his  whole  host 
before  he  reaches  the  gunboats." 

"  Would  to  Heaven  that  strange,  terrible  girl,  Mary  Murdock, 
■were  here  1"  exclaimed  Davis.  "  She  could  give  you  all  the  advan- 
tage of  a  surprise.  It  was  her  who  enabled  Jackson  to  surprise 
Banks,  and  drive  him  back,  you  remember.  She  killed  twenty-five 
or  thirty  men  with  her  own  hand,  and  without  the  slightest  alarm." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Lee ;  "  were  she  here  at  this  moment,  she  would  be 
of  more  service  than  an  army  corps." 

The  words  had  scarcely  left  Lee's  mouth,  when  the  door  of  the 


92  GENERAL  LEE  AND   MARY   MURDOCK. 

apartment  in  which  he  sat  with  Davis  was  opened,  and  the  demon 
girl  herself  stood  before  the  arch-traitors. 

"  Welcome,  welcome,  Miss  Murdock !"  exclaimed  the  rebel  Presi- 
dent, starting  forward,  and  taking  the  hand  of  the  fair  intruder. 
"  We  were  just  wishing  for  you.  You  can  render  our  cause  a  most 
valuable  service." 

"Name  it,  then!"  replied  the  demon  girl,  in  a  voice  strangely 
altered  from  its  usual  tones ;  "  for  my  power  is  fast  failing  me,  and, 
in  a  short  period,  I  must  meet  the  fate  prepared  for  me,  and  pass 
from  earth  to  where  I  belong." 

"  The  service  I  would  ask  of  you.  Miss  Murdock,"  said  General 
Lee  to  the  girl  demon,  "  is  to  break  the  enemy's  line  at  White  House 
without  creating  an  alarm,  in  order  that  I  may  push  a  column  of 
troops  through  to  his  rear.  The  value  of  the  whole  movement  will 
depend  on  twenty-four  hours'  secrecy .'" 

"  I  am  ready,  General,"  said  Mary  Murdock,  "  to  set  out  immedi- 
ately. Now  is  the  time ;  delay  may  bring  me  within  the  power  of  a 
superior  foe." 

Within  five  minutes  after  this  answer,  Mary  Murdock  was  on  her 
way,  in  company  with  the  redoubtable  General  Lee,  to  the  camps  of 
the  rebel  Army  of  Virginia. 

General  McClellan  had  seen  the  weakness  of  his  line  at  White 
House,  but  being  unable  to  remedy  the  defect  in  any  other  manner, 
he  had  pushed  out  his  pickets  at  this  point  further  toward  the  enemy, 
aud  more  than  doubled  their  lines  and  reserves.  Beyond  the  first 
line  he  also  stationed  videttes  mounted  on  fleet  steeds.  In  this 
manner  he  sought  to  make  up  for  his  deficiency  in  strength,  hoping, 
if  the  rebels  made  a  a  demonstration  here,  to  be  able,  by  rapidity  of 
movement,  to  meet  them  with  a  force  taken  fnom  another  part  of  his 
line,  sufficient  to  drive  them  back. 

After  receiving  certain  instructions  from  General  Lee,  Mary  Mur- 
dock set  forth  on  her  mission  of  blood,  as  cheerily  as  though  she  was 
going  to  a  bridal.  It  was  midnight  of  the  twelfth  of  June  that  she 
bade  the  rebel  General  good-night,  and  told  him  he  might  push  for- 
ward his  reconnoitering  column  at  daylight,  without  fear  of  a  pre- 
mature alarm. 

A  short  distance  from  Old  Church,  the  terrible  girl  came  upon  the 
first  of  McClellan's  mounted  videttes.  In  a  moment  the  fatal  bow 
was  drawn,  an  arrow  fitted  to  its  string ;  a  twang,  a  whiz,  and  a 
groan,  and  another  victim  was  added  to  the  long  list  already  arrayed 
against  the  "  Mysterious  Picket  SlayerT 

Scarcely  had  the  Union  soldier  fallen  from  his  saddle  to  the  road 


A  TOUGHING    INCIDENT.  98 

when  his  murderess  reached  him,  and,  leaning  over  his  corpse, 
plucked  the  arrow  from  his  heart.  Next,  with  the  same  rapidity  of 
motion  as  had  hitherto  characterized  her  movements,  she  possessed 
herself  of  the  vidette's  cap  and  overcoat,  in  which  attiring  herself, 
she  vaulted  into  the  empty  saddle,  and  turned  the  horse's  head  down 
the  road.  The  spirited  animal,  all  unconscious  of  the  character  of 
his  new  rider,  bore  her  at  full  speed  toward  the  next  vidctte. 

But  let  us  forbear  further  details  of  the  revolting  ride  of  the 
Picket  Slayer.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  she  accomplished  the  object  of 
her  bloody  errand  most  successfully,  and  had,  by  the  appointed  hour, 
pierced  the  last  line  that  stretched  between  Lee  and  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

This  done,  she  wheeled  her  steed  and  galloped  back  toward  Rich- 
mond. Such  confidence  had  Lee  in  her  success,  that  he  had  dis- 
patched his  column  of  fifteen  hundred  picked  cavalry  and  six  pieces 
of  artillery,  under  General  Stuart,  immediately  after  her.  This  col- 
umn she  met  on  her  return,  just  as  the  bright  sun  began  to  rise.  A 
body  of  the  Fifth  Union  Cavalry,  stationed  at  Old  Church,  she  had 
ridden  around,  both  going  and  returning ;  and,  on  meeting  General 
Stuart,  she  gave  him  such  information  as  would  enable  him  either  to 
capture  or  flank  them,  and  thus  avoid  a  skirmish.  A  spirit  of  bra- 
vado led  the  rebel  to  attempt  the  former  expedient ;  but  instead  of 
capturing  the  brave  detachment,  he  only  succeeded  in  driving  them 
before  him.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  all 
the  information  General  Lee  desired  to  have  for  his  projected  move- 
ment against  the  Union  Army,  and  returned  in  safety,  by  a  circuit- 
uous  route,  to  camp..  Here  he  found  Mary  Murdock  at  General 
Lee's  headquarters,  waiting  another  opportunity  to  serve  the  wicked 
cause  she  had  espoused. 

It  is,  no  doubt,  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  reader,  what  an 
excitement  was  caused  by  this  bold  raid  of  the  rebel  cavalry,  in  the 
army  as  well  as  out  of  it. 

The  Union  lines  were  immediately  re  established,  however,  and  the 
murdered  pickets  buried.  In  regard  to  one  of  these  unfortunate 
heroes,  an  incident  occurred  which  we  cannot  forbear  recording  in 
this  connection. 

Though  the  shaft  that  had  deprived  him  of  life  had  passed  through  • 
his  heart,  yet  he  had  not  died  immediately,  for  in  his  hand  was 
grasped  an  ambrotype  of  an  old  lady,  most  likely  his  mother,  in 
the  case  of  which  were  found  the  following  beautiful  lines.  In  her 
earnest  love,  the  mother,  not  knowing  what  words  to  write  to  her 
son,  had  come  across  the  newspaper  containing  the  poem,  and,  feel- 


94t  THE   MOTHER'3  PRAYER. 

ing  that  the  stanzas  expressed  her  own  fair  thoughts,  she  had  clipped 
it  out  and  sent  it  to  him.  What  made  the  incident  more  touching: 
than  it  would  otherwise  have  been,  was,  that  both  the  ambrotype 
and  slip  of  newspaper  were  stained  with  the  gallant  soldier's  life 
blood : 

THE    MOTHER'S    PLAYER. 


Father !  in  the  battle  fray, 
Shelter  my  dear  boy,  I  pray  ! 
Nerve  his  young  arm  with  the  might 
Of  Justice,  Liberty  and  Right, 
Where  the  red  hail  deadliest  falls, 
W  here  stern  Duty  loudest  calls, 
Where  the  strife  is  fierce  and  wild, 
Father!  guard,  oh!  guard  my  child! 

Where  the  foe  rush  swift  and  strong, 
Madly  striving  for  the  wrong, 
Where  the  clashing  arms  men  wield 
Ring  above  the  battle-field  ; 
Where  the  stifling  air  is  hot 
With  bursting  shell  and  shrieking  shot- 
Father!  to  my  brave  boy's  breast 
Let  no  traitor's  blade  be  pressed. 

Father  I  if  my  woman's  heart, — 
Frail  and  weak  in  every  part, — >• 
Wanders  from'  Thy  mercy  seat 
After  those  dear,  roving  feet, 
Let  thy  tender,  pitying  grace 
Every  selfish  thought  erase  ; 
If  this  mother-love  be  wrong. 
Pardon,  bless  and  make  me  strong. 

For,  when  silent  shades  of  night 
Shut  the  bright  world  from  my  sight,— 
And  around  the  cheerful  fire 
Gather  brothers,  sisters,  sire, — 
There  I  miss  my  boy's  bright  face 
From  his  old,  familiar  place, 
And  my  sad  heart  wanders  back 
To  tented  field  and  bivouac. 


THE  mother's  prayer.  95 

Often  in  my  troubled  sleep, 
Waking  wearily  to  weep — 
Often  dreaming  he  is  near, 
Calming  every  anxious  fear ; 
Often  startled  by  the  flash 
Of  hostile  swords  that  meet  and  clash, 
Till  the  cannon's  smoke  and  roar 
Hide  him  from  my  eyes  once  more  I 

• 

Thus  I  dream,  and  hope  and  pray 
All  the  weary  hours  away. 
But  I  know  his  cause  is  just, 
And  I  center  all  my  trust 
In  Thy  promise  :  "  As  thy  day, 
So  shall  thy  strength  be" — alway ; 
Yet  I  need  Thy  guidance  still ! 
Father  1  let  me  do  Thy  will. 

If  new  sorrow  should  befal, — 
If  my  noble  boy  should  fall ; 
If  the  bright  head  I  have  blessed 
On  the  cold  earth  find  its  rest, — 
Still,  ^vith  all  my  mother's  heart 
Torn,  and  quivering  with  the  smart, 
I  yield  him,  'neath  Thy  chastening  rod, 
To  his  Country  and  his  God. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THB   CRYSTAL   CASKET. 


On  the  night  of  the  day  on  which  General  Stnart  pushed  his  way 
round  to  White  House  and  Tunstall's  Station,  a  single  rider  galloped 
over  the  same  road,  in  the  direction  of  McClellan's  camp.  Straight 
through  the  reestablished  Union  lines  he  rode,  but,  strange  to  say, 
he  was  unchallenged,  and  his  grey  steed  flew  onward  like  the  wind. 
This  horseman  was  Wetherill,  the  mysterious  guardian  of  the  still 


99  wetherill's  last  visit. 

more  mysterious  Picket  Slayer,  Mary  Murdock.  His  animal  seemed 
to  have  borne  liini  many  a  weary  mile,  for  the  foam,  tinged  with 
blood,  dropped  in  flakes  from  his  bridle-bit,  and  his  skin  was  covered 
with  a  complete  lather.  Yet  forward  he  sprang,  at  the  urging  of  his 
master,  until  he  brought  the  latter  to  McClellau's  tent.  Here,  how- 
ever, his  journey  was  ended,  and,  sinking  to  the  turf,  he  expired. 

A  moment  later,  and  Wethcrill  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  Union 
commander,  who  noticed  that  his  whole  appearance  had  undergone  a 
singular  change  since  he  had  last  seen  hiin.  Ills  face,  thin,  cadaver- 
ous, and  pale,  was  rendered  still  more  ghastly  by  his  'eyes,  that 
gleamed  from  their  hollow  sockets  with  terrible  brightness. 

"  General,"  said  he,  after  some  little  conversation  with  McClellan, 
who  chanced  to  be  alone  at  the  time,  "I  once  told  you  I  should  need 
your  help  to  secure  this  terrible  girl.  Since  then  I  have  been  con- 
tinually in  pursuit  of  her,  but,  until  now,  have  been  baffled.  With 
your  aid,  I  can  retake  her  at  sunrise  to-morrow  morning." 

"  Whatever  I  can  do,  I  will  do  it  willingly,"  replied  the  General ; 
"  for  I  am  well  assured  that,  without  her  assistance,  our  lines  could 
never  have  been  pierced,  as  they  were  by  the  rebel  cavalry,  without 
a  timely  alarm  being  given." 

"  Then,  General,"  said  Wetherill,  drawing  forth  a  richly  moulded 
crystal  box,  of  small  size,  "  at  three  o'clock  exactly,  open  this  little 
chest.  In  it  you  will  find  a  peculiar  candle  which  will  light  itself 
upon  the  opening  of  the  lid.  If  the  candle  should  burn  beyond 
sun-rise,  extinguish  it  instantly  by  closing  the  lid  of  the  chest ;  but  on 
no  account  permit  it  to  become  extinguished  before  day  dawn.  I 
may  return  and  I  may  not ;  if  I  should,  I  will  explain  to  you  the 
true  science  of  what  seems  no  doubt  to  you  a  silly  rite, — a  mummery 
of  magic.  But  of  one  thing  rest  assured,  that  whether  I  return  or 
not,  you  will  no  more  be  troubled  with  this  demon  girl. 

"  Another  thing  ere  I  go ;  General  Lee  has  already  sent  for 
Stonewall  Jackson,  and  with  seventy -five  thousand  men  is  going  to 
attack  White  House  immediately  with  the  intention  of  capturing 
your  supplies.  He  then  expects  you  to  retreat  on  Williamsburg, 
and  has  made  such  dispositions  as  will  insure  your  destruction.  His 
army  greatly  outnumbers  yours.  To  insure  to  you  the  least  hope 
of  escape,  there  is  but  one  course  open  to  you,  and  that  he  thinks 
you  will  not  attempt — namely,  a  rapid  march  to  the  James  Eiver." 

"That  is  exactly  what  I  have  already  commenced,  Mr.  Wetherill,'^ 
replied  McClellan,  "  and,  with  sufficient  reinforcements,  I  will  turn 
this  apparent  disaster,  which  I  know  cannot  be  prevented,  into  a 
grand  and  overwhelming  victory." 


m'clellan'9  promise  fulfilled.  97 

"Then  you  have  taken  the  only  route  to  safety,"  answered, 
Wetherill ;  "  but,"  continued  he,  "  I  must  bo  gone,  the  time  gets 
short.  Will  you,  General,  faithfully  follow  out  my  instructions  in 
regard  to  this  casket  and  its  contents  ?" 

°  Certainly,  Mr.  Wetherill,"  rejoined  McClellan,  "  I  have  made  all 
my  arr;ingements  for  the  night,  and  though  confessing  to  but  little 
faith  in  these  magical  arts,  I  will,  because  you  request  it,  follow  your 
instructions  rigidly."  ' 

'« All  is  well  with  you,  then,  General.  I  may  return  or  I  may 
not;  if  I  do,  I  will  show  you  that  what  you  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
regarded  so  lightly,  is  really  one  of  the  most  sublime  sciences  that 
mortal  man  has  ever  discovered.  If  I  do  not  return,  you  may  know 
that  I  am  no  longer  of  earth.     Farewell." 

McClellan  could  not  repress  the  feeling  of  mysterious  awe  that 
possessed  him  as  he  shook  Wetherill's  extended  hand,  and  when  the 
latter  left  the  tent,  he  said  to  himself: 

"  What  a  strange,  incomprehensible  man  !" 

The  intervening  time  to  three  o'clock  was  passed  by  McClellan  in 
attention  to  some  matters  that  the  pressure  of  his  other  duties  had 
not  allowed  him  until  now  to  arrange.  True  to  his  word,  however, 
he  did  not  neglect  the  promise  he  had  made  to  Wetherill,  but, 
exactly  at  three  o'clock,  opened  the  lid  of  the  crystal  casket.  As 
Wetherill  had  said,  a  small  candle  within  it  was  instantly  ignited, 
and  burned  with  a  steady  white  light.  Curiosity  led  McClellan  to 
look  into  the  casket ;  but  it  had  no  contents  whatever,  saving  the 
diminutive  candle,  and  this  seemed  to  consume  with  more  than 
ordinary  rapidity.  Its  flame  sank  gradually  down  within  the  crys- 
tal sides  that  surrounded  it,  and  through  which  its  light  came  with 
an  ever-increasing  dimness,  until  at  last  it  was  barely  perceptible. 

Day  at  last  dawned,  and  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, to  completely  fulfill  his  promise  to  the  mysterious  Wetherill, 
approached  the  casket  for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  the  light  it 
contained.  But  the  latter  was  so  nearly  out  that  he  involuntarily 
awaited  its  self-extinguishment.  He  was  not  detained  long  thus,  for, 
even  as  he  gazed  down  upon  the  little  flame,  it  vanished  wholly  and 
without  a  flicker. 

"  At  this  moment,"  said  he,  to  the  person  to  whom  he  afterward 
narrated  the  singular  affair,  "  the  thought  flashed  across  my  mind, 
that  Wetherill  and  the  startling  girl  of  whom  he  was  in  pursuit,  had, 
at  that  moment,  ceased  to  live !  I  know  not  why  it  so  occurred  to 
me,  but  I  could  not  rid  myself  of  it.  And  even  now,  at  this  com- 
paratively distant  day,  I  never  look  upon  the  crystal  casket  that 


S8  THE   LAST   Pt'Rsurr. 

"Wetherill  thus  left  in  mj  possession,  but  the   remembrance  comes  to 
me  as  vividly  as  ever." 


CHAPTER      XII. 

A  TRAGIC   END. 


Once  more  we  return  to  the  mysterious  Wetherill.  After  bidding 
General  McClellan  farewell,  he  hastened  away  in  the  direction  of  the 
camp  of  the  rebel  General  Lee.  When  within  four  miles  of  the 
latter,  he  stopped  where  four  roads  intersected,  and  seemed  for  awhile 
to  be  at  a  loss  which  to  take.  This  he  presently  decided,  and  again 
moved  forward,  not,  however,  at  the  same  rapid  pace  as  before ;  but 
like  a  man  fearful  of  encountering  some  peril.  Several  times  within 
the  next  mile  he  halted,  and  gazed  intently  up  at  the  stars  overhead. 
Immediately  after  doing  so  the  last  time,  Wetherill  turned  from  the 
main  road  into  a  by-path  that  wound  now  through  wheat  and  corn- 
fields, and  now  through  dense  woodlands  with  as  much  irregularity 
as  a  meandering  stream.  As  he  advanced  his  speed  decreased,  until 
at  last  it  was  not  faster  than  a  slow  walk;  and  just  as  day  was  ab%ut 
breaking,  he  reached  what  seemed  to  be  the  destination  of  his  jour- 
ney. This  was  a  huge  rock  far  up  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy  river. 

Here  he  produced  from  beneath  his  coat  a  crystal  casket,  which 
was  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  one  he  had  left  with  General  McClel- 
lan. Casting  a  momentary  glance  up  at  the  sky,  along  which  the 
greyish  light  of  day  was  just  creeping,  he  opened  the  lid  of  the 
casket,  and  with  precisely  the  same  result  as  we  have  seen  in  regard 
to  the  other,  namely,  the  igniting  of  a  diminutive  candle.  One 
difference,  however,  was  instantly  apparent — while  the  taper  in 
McClellan's  casket  burned  with  a  steady  consumption,  that  in  Weth- 
erill's  burned  fitfully  and  with  astonishing  rapidity, — so  much  so,* in 
fact,  that  day  had  not  fully  broken  ere  it  was  almost  out. 

From  the  moment  of  opening  the  casket,  Wetherill  had  bent 
down  over  it  with  such  an  intent  and  eager  steadiness  that  the  flame 
of  the  candle  seemed  to  scorch  his  face.  All  this  while,  also,  he 
continued  to  utter  broken  sentences  in  the  Persian  and  ancient 
Chaldee  tongues.     His  voice  and  manner  became  more  and  more 


A   PROPHECY   FULFILLED.  99 

earnest  as  the  flame  of  the  candle  got  lower  and  lower.  The  sun 
was  now  just  below  the  horizon,  and  all  nature  seemed  awaking  to 
greet  his  cheerful  rays,  when  suddenly  an  arrow,  shot  with  terrible 
force,  fairly  struck  the  casket,  shivering  it  to  atoips,  and  in.stantly 
extinguishing  the  little  taper.  A  groan  burst  from  the  lips  of 
Wethcrill  at  this  instant,  and  he  snatched  from  his  bosom  the 
singularly  carved  wand  we  have  seen  him  use  once  before.  This  he 
extended  in  the  direction  of  the  flight  of  the  arrow,  but,  while  in  the 
very  act,  a  second  shaft,  shot  more  vengefully  than  the  first,  struck 
him  upon  the  right  check,"  not  fully,  but  so  close  as  to  cut  the  flesh 
slightly  from  about  the  middle  of  the  cheek  back  to  the  ear. 

A  deadly  shiver  ran  through  the  frame  of  the  wounded  man  as  he 
felt  the  warm  blood  spurt  from  the  gash,  and,  with  compressed  lips, 
he  muttered : 

"  Three  shafts  !  so  ends  her  power '  so  ends  my  life !  His  will  be 
done !" 

At  this  moment,  Mary  Murdock — for  she  it  was  who  had  shot  the 
two  arrows,  leaped  from  the  thicket  in  which  she  had  been  concealed, 
and  sought  to  fly,  but  in  an  instant,  WetherUl  sprang  after  her, 
never  lowering  the  wand  which  he  heia  towaid  her.  Quickly  the 
girl  demon  seemed  to  lose  her  strength,  and  ere  she  had  fled  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  she  sank  to  the  earth,  clutching  at  the  flowers  and 
grass  as  she  fell,  whilst  a  demoniac  agony  writhed  and  worked  her 
beautiful  features  into  the  most  fearful  contortions.  No  sound 
escaped  her,  neither  did  she  make  any  motion  after  sinking  to  the 
ground,  save  an  occasional  effort  to  raise  her  head,  that  fell  forward 
and  rested  heavily  on  her  bosom.  Her  end  was  approaching,  as  she 
had  years  before  predicted.  By  the  hand  of  her  guardian,  she  was  to 
die.  Not  that  the  latter  shed  her  blood,  for  his  only  act  upon  reach- 
ing her  was  to  touch  her  with  the  singular  wand  he  carried.  And 
even  this  seemed  to  be  as  mortal  to  himself  as  to  her,  for,  on  touch- 
ing her,  he  staggered  back  several  paces,  whilst  a  more  deadly  pallor 
^read  itself  upon  his  features  than  before,  and  his  eyes  became  dim 
and  glassy.  Yet,  with  all  his  determination,  he  continued  to  hold 
the  wand  toward  Mary  Murdock. 

What  a  weird,  terribly  solemn  picture  was  there  presented.  No 
passing  zephyr  stirred  the  leaves,  no  birds  caroled  in  the  branches, 
and  even  the  insects  were  silent  as  the  two  strange  beings  were 
dying,  each  destroyed  by  an  art  unknown  to  their  fellow  beings. 
Whether  the  wound  inflicted  by  the  demon  girl's  arrow,  or  the  mys- 
terious influence  of  the  contact  of  the  wand  held  by  Wethcrill, 
caused  the  fatal  efifect  upon  the  latter,  it  is   impossible  to   decide. 


IOOVji  the  two  skeletons. 

^^ 
Either  conclusion  would'  be  plausible ;  but  the  same  mystery  en- 
shrouds that  as  the  two  strange  actors  themselves.  Whether  Lord 
Palmerston  knew  who  and  what  Mary  Murdock  was,  all  inquiries 
have  failed  to  settle ;  but  that  she  was  the  illegitimate  offspring  of  one 
of  the  most  renowned  peers  of  England  is  placed  beyond  a  doubt. 

Wetherill  himself  was  without  kith  or  kin,  and  his  lineage  is 
buried  in  oblivion.  From  the  few  facts  that  have  come  to  light  con- 
ccrning  him,  however,  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man  fond  of  ab- 
struse study  and  travel  in  his  youth,  and,  consequently,  just  such  a 
person  as  would  delight  in  those  investigations  which  afterwards 
proved  so  potent  to  him  and  his  ward. 

After  it  was  decided  to  withdraw  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from 
the  Peninsula,  General  McClellau  sent  flanking  columns  of  cavalry 
as  far  as  possible  into  the  enemy's  lines.  •  One  of  these,  scouting  in 
the  neighborhood  in  which  the  tragedy  we  have  narrated  occurred, 
came  upon  the  bodies  of  the  mysterious  Wetherill  and  his  still  more 
mysterious  charge,  Mary  Murdock.  Both  corpses  had  long  since 
obeyed  the  mandate  of  Nature,  "dust  to  dust,"  saving  the  bony 
frames,  and  these,  apparently  unmolested  by  bird  or  beast,  still  re- 
tained their  relative  positions.  A  strange  awe  seized  the  rough 
troopers  at  the  startling  spectacle,  and,  without  disturbing  either 
skeleton,  they  returned  to  camp  to  relate,  with  many  an  exaggera- 
tion, what  they  had  beheld.  Upon  learning  accidentally  of  the  dis- 
covery, McClellan  sent  for  the  officer  who  had  charge  of  the  column, 
and  questioned  him  closely  concerning  it.  But  the  latter  had  noticed 
neither  a  broken  bow  nor  a  wand ;  nothing  but  the  two  crumbling 
skeletons.  . 

So  mysteriously  perished  two  of  the  most  mysterious  beings  that 
have  had  any  connection  with  the  American  Eebellion. 


THE  END. 


RARK  BOOK 
COLLKCTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 


Wilmer 
36 


